Chapter 622
, 621 Activation
Chapter 622, Section 621: Activation
Inside the drawing room of the Earl of Bonne's mansion, the fireplace was burning brightly.
Marquis Ravenclaw was like an uninvited guest; even when led to the most luxurious seat, he did not show the slightest bit of a friendly expression.
Bona first used the excuse of not being in the mansion to avoid him for half a day.
Unable to hide any longer, he hurriedly came to see the Marquis.
"Your Excellency, Marquis, you have personally pursued and suppressed the remnants of the cult; it must have been a long and arduous journey!" Bona's face was plastered with an impeccable smile as he personally presented a steaming cup of mead infused with precious spices. "You must be weary from your journey; I have already ordered hot water and..."
Ravenclaw didn't take the glass of wine; his gaze fell directly on Bona's face.
“Back in my castle, I will naturally rest, but now I have come to seek answers. My soldiers are buried here, and I need to know immediately the specific circumstances of the day they died, including every single detail!”
Bona's hand holding the wine glass trembled almost imperceptibly. He chuckled twice and then quickly placed the glass aside.
“My lord, I don’t understand. What’s there to investigate? Your men were brave and fearless, but they were met with a fierce counterattack from the cult priests, which is why none of them survived. These are facts that have already been written in the report.”
"Not a single one escaped?" The Marquis sneered. "Even the remnants of the cult, who were being chased and were fleeing for their lives, were able to silently set up a trap on your territory that could wipe out the entire pursuit team?"
Bona quickly bowed his head: "It was my dereliction of duty, and my subordinates were negligent in their precautions. I am willing to apologize for my mistake."
As he spoke, Bona handed over a gift box that had been prepared beforehand, which was full of gold coins.
The Marquis of Ravenclaw had not expected that Bona would so readily take responsibility and make compensation.
But this time he came determined to find out how his trusted confidant had died here under mysterious circumstances.
"Where are your soldiers who participated in the battle? I want to question them!"
Bona nodded repeatedly, rubbing his hands together: "I understand, I completely understand! It's just... the incident happened so suddenly, and several of the captains in charge of on-site command were injured, so we need time to regroup. How about this, you settle down first, and I'll make arrangements immediately to ensure that everyone who was present at the time reports to you!"
"how long it takes?"
"Soon! Soon!" Bona quickly assured him. "You must be tired from your journey, please have some tea and snacks first, I'll go and urge them on right away!"
The next few hours were like dancing on a red-hot iron plate for Bona.
He first personally supervised the servants to serve the Marquis and his guards the most exquisite tea and snacks, each dish accompanied by his lengthy and pointless introduction, trying to stall for time with trivialities.
Ravenclaw sat silently, not touching the food in front of him, his gaze fixed on the count, as if trying to see through what Bona was up to.
When the Count tried for the fourth time to stir up trouble with a newly discovered set of giant animal skeletons, Ravenclaw suddenly stood up.
“Your Excellency.” His voice was not loud, but it silenced the incessantly chattering Bona instantly. “It’s been three standard hours. Where is the person I need to see? Or do you need me to go to your camp to find him myself?”
"Almost there...almost there!"
Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the door, and more than a dozen soldiers dressed in the uniforms of the Earl's private army walked in with their heads down.
The Marquis then let Bona go.
The questioning began quickly, from the specific time and location of the attack, the number and characteristics of the enemies, the spells they used, to the course of the battle, how they responded, and why the pursuit team was trapped and wiped out...
Initially, the soldiers' answers were mostly fluent and largely consistent with the report Bona had previously submitted.
But as the Marquis questioned them with increasing detail, the soldiers' answers became hesitant, vague, and even contradictory. Ravenclaw's brow furrowed deeper; he didn't get angry, but the light in his light brown eyes grew colder. After questioning less than half the soldiers, he suddenly raised his hand, stopping the inquiry.
"That's enough." His voice was devoid of emotion. "You may all leave."
The soldiers, as if granted a pardon, hurriedly saluted and retreated, their steps faltering. Bonner tried to force a relieved smile: "Your Excellency, you see, that's the situation..."
Ravenclaw didn't even look at him, but turned to one of his captains of the guard, his voice low but clear enough for the count to hear: "They've all coordinated their stories, we won't get the truth out of them."
Bona's smile froze on his face.
Ravenclaw turned back to him, this time with no trace of politeness in his eyes.
“Since we can’t get anything out of the living, let’s go see the dead, see the battlefield.” He led his guards toward the door. “Now, immediately, go see their corpses and the battlefield. Your Excellency, you don’t need to come along; my men will find it themselves.”
The Marquis's guards were extremely efficient and quickly retrieved the bodies of the pursuing soldiers from the grave outside the city.
“My lord,” the captain of the guard knelt on one knee, his voice filled with anger, “most of the fatal wounds… came from behind! They were caused by close-quarters attacks, while wounds from head-on confrontations were relatively few.”
Immediately afterwards, another guard presented an item wrapped in cloth: a broken sword found inside a soldier's body. It was easy to recognize that this was the standard-issue sword of the Earl's private army.
Ironclad evidence.
The Marquis's face was extremely gloomy, but there was still one thing he couldn't understand.
That is, where did Count Bonne get the audacity to do such a thing?
You must understand, slaughtering imperial soldiers is not just offending him, the marquis; it's practically betraying the empire!
If Bona were a border lord, the Marquis would consider the possibility that he might betray the lord and defect to the humans or dwarves.
But why would a count whose territory was entirely within the empire risk such a great deal to rebel?
Just then, a mage who had gone to the excavation site warehouse to check for signs of battle ran over.
"What has been discovered over there?" the Marquis asked.
"Most of the traces have been cleaned up, and there isn't much meaningful information. However, I have made another discovery! The large magic circle in the excavation site, the rune sequence and node connection method it uses, in my opinion, are definitely not a detection magic circle."
"Not a reconnaissance class? Then what is it?"
Unfortunately, without detailed blueprints, the mage could only deduce this much information.
However, this is undoubtedly important information.
The problem with Dobona killing his own soldiers likely lies with the magic circle at the excavation site; his men may have discovered something!
Marquis Ravenclaw made a decisive decision: "Let's go to the excavation site!"
However, when they arrived, they found their men who had stayed behind lying in pools of blood.
Bona stood in the middle, looking up at the setting sun, which was halfway down in the distance.
"Bona!" Having lost several more of his personal guards, Marquis Ravenclaw's rage had reached its peak. "If you like looking at the sky, then look at it a few more times. You'll never have the chance to see anything again! Before I take you to His Majesty, I'll let you experience what it means to wish you were dead!"
The Marquis was the strongest man present, and he was accompanied by his personal guards. Bona, a mere dubious earl, had absolutely no chance of winning.
The sun finally set, and Bona looked back at Ravenclaw and laughed, "I look at the sky not because I like it, but because the time has finally come."
As Bona finished speaking, the magical rituals that spanned the entire excavation site of the giant beast's skeletons began to light up slightly. Even though it was only in its initial stages, everyone present felt the earth shake and tremble.
This wasn't a real earthquake; it was space itself trembling!
"What...what kind of magic circle did you set up here?" Ravenclaw demanded, leading the charge. "Destroy that magic circle!"
Bona ignored him, and even as Ravenclaw's sword drew near, he simply raised his hands, his eyes filled with satisfaction and joy: "Finally, I have fulfilled the master's request!"
Meanwhile, the knight Puji was carrying Lord Yellow Book and galloping north. Although they were far apart, they could still see the dazzling light formed by the gathering magic above the giant beast bone field.
(End of this chapter)