Chapter 90

The Duke of Salem's first thought was, "Did this person already know everything and deliberately play tricks on him?"

This person must know him, but... he has no recollection of this person.

There are magical artifacts on the mainland that can conceal one's face. Could this person be concealing his true appearance, appearing to outsiders to be only in his twenties, when in reality he is already in his fifties or sixties? Otherwise, he wouldn't understand why this person knows him so well.

But he had to put aside all his thoughts. Faced with Veris's question, the Duke of Salem hesitated for only two seconds before revealing the person who had instigated him.

"It's Hearst! Hearst Youngor Phoenix!"

He immediately spoke loudly, as honestly as a student facing an older teacher.

Prince Hearst, also known as Prince Phoenix.

Veris smiled, seemingly unsurprised by the outcome. He said nothing, merely glancing at the Duke of Salem before looking at the other officers.

"Now that everyone has rested tonight, let's continue our journey tomorrow."

"The magic circle protecting the army will appear after they enter the northern border."

After he finished speaking, he vanished from the spot once again.

The room fell silent. Earl Reed was the first to react. He looked at Duke Salem, who seemed dazed as if he had been hit on the head, and said with a forced smile, "Then I must thank Your Excellency for your hospitality tonight."

After saying that, he stood up and walked out.

Seeing this, the other officers quickly followed.

One of the young officers glanced at his companion, whose expression remained unchanged, and suddenly realized that his mind was failing him again, leaving him with a bitter face.

Upon returning to the main hall, he couldn't help but pull aside a close officer and ask what they were going to do next.

The officer shrugged: "Have a big meal and then go to sleep. We still have to head north tomorrow, so you should get some rest too."

That's it?

"Haha, what do you want? To tie up the Duke and send him back to the capital? Just you wait, he'll go obediently on his own. That young man is from the High Papacy, and the High Papacy certainly has secret methods for transmitting information. His arrival here means that His Majesty the King already knows about the situation in Salem. If the Duke doesn't go to the capital obediently, it means he's going to lead the entire territory of Salem in rebellion."

After saying that, the officer gave a cold laugh.

The young man was still somewhat puzzled. "Why did they send the message back to the capital as soon as they confirmed who it was? Wasn't that someone from the Papacy?"

The next second, he received a punch to the shoulder, and the young man immediately grimaced. The older officer next to him looked displeased. "You brat, don't you dare cause me any trouble. I really don't understand how your father raised you; you're incredibly stupid."

youth:"……"

"It doesn't matter whether they told you or not. Anyway, when the Duke returns to the capital, he will explain everything."

"You! Don't think of those advance team members as stupid, and don't underestimate our King."

He shook his head and decided to go back and complain to the boy's father, saying that he had been raised in a state of naivety at home and that his intelligence was truly worrying.

Meanwhile, in the capital of Lortheran.

The army was still marching north, and the capital was naturally peaceful. Apart from the families of those who had accompanied the army and were worried, everyone went about their own lives.

In the afternoon, Lortheran's regular routine was to check on Crown Prince Ethan's studies and then dump a bunch of government affairs on him, keeping a close eye on him no matter how well he handled them.

Ethan sat obediently in his study, racking his brains to give his reply.

Lortheran stood beside him, calm and collected, as if he had returned to the days when King Charles was still alive, only his state of mind was completely different then.

There was a sudden commotion outside the study. Lortheran frowned. If it wasn't something urgent, no one would bother them at this hour.

So he went outside.

Several of his secretaries were standing outside. When they saw His Majesty the King come out, they rushed to greet him, their faces filled with anxiety.

"Your Majesty, the Papacy has sent a letter requesting your presence."

Lortheran's expression darkened slightly, and he nodded: "Go prepare the car frame, I'll go now."

After giving the order, he returned to his study. Ethan couldn't help but look up and ask, "What happened?"

Lortheran's face was gloomy: "Something seems to have happened at the Grand Papacy, but we don't know what it is yet. I'll go take a look."

“But…” Ethan couldn’t help but whisper. His teacher told him that as a king, he should not leave the palace easily, since the outside world was dangerous.

Lortheran glanced at him, knowing full well what was going on, but pretended not to know and asked, "Is there a problem?"

The boy hesitated, but he wasn't stupid enough to tell Lortheran not to leave the palace or go to the High Church. Instead, he repeated exactly what his teacher had told him in class.

He didn't really agree with that statement, but what did it matter if he said it? He wasn't the one who would suffer anyway.

Sure enough, Lortheran's expression turned even uglier.

He glanced at Ethan, forcing a smile, and said, "I understand. There shouldn't be such a fool among your teachers. What kind of skill is it to cower in the palace your whole life? That's something only good-for-nothings do. I'll handle it."

After saying that, he instructed Ethan to finish the official document and to wait for him to return if he was still unsure, before leaving in a hurry.

The journey from the palace to the Papacy was quite a distance, and Lortheran couldn't help but feel anxious. He had arranged for a lightweight carriage, because if he really wanted to make a royal spectacle, it would probably be dawn by then.

As night fell, he finally arrived at the Papacy. He jumped down from the carriage curtain and ran inside, startling the two archbishops who were waiting at the entrance.

Riveren quickly gave chase, with Ophelia calling out as she ran, "Wait for us, Your Majesty! Do you know the way?"

Lortheran ran ahead without turning his head: "Who's looking for me!"

"Your Majesty!" Ophelia was panting heavily as he chased after him. He had been living a life of luxury for too long and never expected that he couldn't escape His Majesty the King. Watching the figure disappear into the corridor, he was furious and shouted to the priests beside him, "Go after His Majesty the King! Don't leave him alone in there!"

If anything were to happen to His Majesty the King, the Papacy would be in a very difficult position to explain itself.

A group of young pastors chased after them.

The secretaries who had come with Lortheran were dumbfounded, and Rivelen went back to lead them to find the Holy Son.

Having spent countless years in the Papacy, Lortheran knew its layout far better than these priests and bishops. He ran all the way to Sylvain's study, rushed inside but saw no one, and turned to run towards the two men's living quarters.

He hadn't run far when he spotted Sylvain; it seemed he was waiting for him.

Sylvain saw Lortheran running towards him, covered in sweat, and silently cast a cleansing spell to wipe away the sweat from his body before leading him to the other side.

"What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?" Lortheran's words clearly indicated that he himself was the one in a hurry.

However, Sylvain's expression was also not good, and he only said, "The dragon is injured."

"What?!"

Lortheran was shocked. The dragon, that tough-skinned creature, could actually get injured? No, no, the dragon was with Veris, how could it get injured? Did it encounter a problem that even Veris couldn't solve?

No, there is another possibility.

The dragon acted alone and was ambushed.

As Lortheran followed behind Sylvain, the thought flashed through his mind, and he felt his blood run cold. He suddenly remembered a nightmare from long ago that had filled him with rage.

His eyes were a little red as he asked, "Is Long alright?"

Sylvain paused for a moment before saying, "It's mostly fine. It inhaled a lot of poison powder meant for magical beasts, so I gave it an antidote and some healing magic. It's awake now, but..."

“But what?” Lortheran asked warily.

The two had reached a door, and Sylvain pushed it open, saying, "See for yourself."

Lortheran hurried inside, his heart pounding in his chest. When he saw the dragon-horned boy crouching at the foot of the bed, he breathed a sigh of relief. The room was dimly lit, and the fact that the dragon still had the strength to crouch meant that his injuries were not serious.

Sylvain raised his hand, and the room instantly became as bright as day.

They also got a clear look at the dragon's appearance.

The dragon turned around, its face contorted with a gloomy expression.

Lortheran was also stunned.

The massive explosion left the dragon's skin black and red, covered in its shattered scales. In human form, his fair skin was now riddled with pitted wounds covered in black scabs. His hair was in even worse condition, looking as if it had been chewed by a dog, with the ends charred black, and his long braid was nowhere to be seen.

"Loseran, laugh if you want," it said dejectedly.

They've been good friends for years, and Lortheran would surely laugh at it for being so disheveled.

However, the expected mockery did not come. Lortheran pulled it up, looked it over from head to toe, and after confirming that it was alright, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"It's good that you're alright," he said.

Sylvain stood to the side, seemingly lost in thought.

Lortheran patted the dragon on the shoulder, "Take good care of your injuries, you'll definitely recover to your former self."

The dragon glanced at him and said, "Loseran, you've changed."

Lortheran: "..."

This time, however, he didn't refute the dragon. He just snorted and said nothing. Instead, he looked at Sylvain and asked, "Is Veris alright?"

The one capable of injuring a dragon is probably a very powerful individual.

Sylvain shook his head: "They're in Salem, the main city. Those people are after the dragons, and their method is to kill magical beasts with poison powder."

Lortheran's expression darkened further.

Salem...okay.

Long also said, "Veris is fine. We discovered that someone was following us as soon as we entered the city. Veris was going to the church to check the records, and I was bored, so I went to cause trouble for those people, and ended up being ambushed."

Actually, those powders only made it unconscious; the culprit was the burst of flame it spewed before it lost consciousness. Thinking of this, it couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

He was also furious: "These despicable humans, I must kill them!"

Lortheran simply sat down on the edge of the bed, thought for a moment, and said, "The Duke of Salem is Garcia's uncle. Royal records say that he is uneducated, weak and incompetent. Whether this is true or not is debatable, but Veris will definitely not let him go."

Long suddenly remembered something: "Wouldn't Veris come to the Duke's mansion and kill everyone there?"

Veris used to do this often if anyone provoked or hurt them.

Lortheran hadn't thought of that and quickly shook his head: "I can't be."

"Am I really that irritable, easily angered, and repulsive in your eyes?" Before the words were even finished, someone immediately chimed in. A slender figure appeared at the doorway; it was Veris, who had just returned after dealing with the Duke of Salem.

A hint of weariness flickered in his eyes, and Sylvain, noticing this, pursed his lips.

Veris walked in and said, "I've sent Bruck back to the capital to apologize. Now, you can choose someone else to take charge of Salem?"

He also saw the dragon's miserable appearance, sighed, and did not laugh at the dragon.

Lortheran sat on the edge of the bed and said without hesitation, "I'm not going to bestow any more titles of duke upon any royal family member. I'll just designate Salem as District Twelve."

“That Mercury thing, why is it still called Mercury? I’m going to make it District Thirteen! And Milford City, District Fourteen!” Lortheran shouted.

Veris was surprised; he had assumed Lortheran would stick to the rules he had set.

Lortheran noticed his surprise and said irritably, "Back then, I genuinely considered everyone as family and brothers. What was a land grant compared to that? I even thought my descendants would take those lands back. But these good-for-nothings, almost three hundred years later, still have a bunch of lands outside."

“Your grandson said that as long as the gift is given to a relative, nothing will happen,” Veris couldn’t help but laugh.

"What relatives! They're all bastards who stole my land!" Lortheran refused to acknowledge any distant relatives. "Once we take Phoenix and divide it into fifteen districts, we'll have a large army now. We'll turn around and attack Anga and Daventry, then sweep south. Forget about granting fiefdoms, I'm going to unify the continent!"

Those were brothers back then, truly talented individuals. What are these good-for-nothings now? It's better to manage them yourself than to delegate the responsibility to others.

"And when will my adopted son grow up? Isn't he supposed to be a hero? Hurry up and take some men to deal with those demons in the Demon King's Forest!" Lortheran seemed to have swallowed a bomb, turning fierce and menacing.

Veris shrugged: "Are you crazy? They've only been enrolled for two months."

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Author's note: See you tomorrow [glasses]