Page 26
A moment later, Mrs. Maylie arrived with twenty maids.
As soon as she entered the room, Elizabeth said seriously, "Aunt Mei, you are here. We have a very important matter to discuss. We need to choose an open space in the castle... uh, King, you can speak."
Wang replied seriously, "An open space that can accommodate about 200 people. There must be enough tables in this space. We also need 100 observers, 100 stenographers, and enough servants to take care of these people's daily life for a week, as well as sufficient food and utensils."
Mrs. Meili frowned slightly: "Such a big event? What are you going to do?"
Wang: "We are going to use a scroll. The spell inside can trace Mark - the spy's important moments in the past six months.
"But the trouble with this spell is that it will present a bunch of irrelevant content, and the information we need will be mixed in with this content. Someone has to write down all the content in shorthand and then carefully identify it."
Madam Meili glanced at Her Royal Highness the Princess, then at the Second Prince, and then nodded: "I understand. We will do our best to cooperate with your actions. But it will take some time to find so many trustworthy stenographers. Can we trust the people from the various chambers of commerce in the port?"
The Rhineland River has a very good shipping capacity. Armed caravans crossing the Shield Road will sell their goods here, and river transport merchants will take over and send them to various parts of the mainland. Therefore, the city of Langdon has a very large port area, just outside the outer city wall, along the Rhineland River.
In order to prevent banditry, the Chamber of Commerce in the port area jointly built a low wall to protect the port area. It looks like a tumor growing out of the main wall of Langdon City.
The port area has a large number of literate residents who work there as clerks, transaction recorders, accountants for money changers, etc.
If we really talk about literacy rate, the port area may be slightly higher than the main urban area of Landen City.
Facing Mrs. Meili's question, Wang pretended to think for a few seconds and said, "We can hire them, but we need to find people with guarantees. And we need to cross-check to make sure no one is hiding the facts. In this case, the total number of stenographers will have to double. Can I leave it to you?"
Mrs. Meili raised her head: "Of course."
"Then take me to find a venue first. It would be best if you could show me all the venues that might be used. I want to see the ballroom, the dining room, the chapel in the castle."
Madam Meili bowed, "Please follow me... Wait, why do you want me to call 20 maids?"
Elizabeth replied, "Once we find a place, we will start to transform it immediately and make it what we need. Father already knows about this matter, and it is extremely urgent. You also know that I am in danger underground, and someone wants to harm Lord Langdon."
Madam Meili nodded seriously: "I understand. Just order us around."
The king picked up the scroll and walked to Madam Meili. He grabbed her hand and raised it to chest height, then placed the scroll on top. "Please hold this scroll. This is a very precious scroll, and I only have one. When I survey the scene, I will use the magical aura emanating from it as a target at any time. You must maintain this height and do not shake it."
Mrs. Meili raised her head proudly: "Don't worry. Leave it to me."
The king made a gesture of invitation: "Lead the way, Madam Meili."
Elizabeth said the agreed line: "I have other things to discuss with my brother. I will leave the survey to you, King."
Wang turned around and gave a thumbs up.
Then he left with Mrs. Maylie and a group of maids.
When only the brother and sister were left in the room, Bruce teased, "He was so confident in leaving you with me. What would he do if I turned into a parricide beast now?"
"I think he probably assumed you wouldn't do anything." Elizabeth remained unmoved.
Bruce smiled slightly. "You trust him a lot. But it's true. The drow are experienced, but they don't care about anything other than protecting your safety. The cat-man - called Misha Sara? The cat-man likes you very much, but only treats you as a little girl. And the warriors...
"I used to think he was your licker, but it turns out he was a spy. And the barbarian, humph, the barbarian has no intelligence at all. You finally got someone who will listen to your demands seriously and use his extraordinary wisdom for your goals, even though this person is a little crazy.
"What a pity, my sister. If he were in my team, I would make the most of his wisdom. He might even become the chancellor of the empire!"
Elizabeth shook her head gently: "My dear second brother, you haven't won the battle for the throne yet. Isn't it a bit early to think about competing for the emperor of the empire now?"
Bruce sighed, "Sister, you don't know that there have been many reports of cavalry attacks on the border between us and the Territory of Styria. It is probably the Emperor's reconnaissance troops."
Elizabeth frowned. "What?"
"That's exactly what happened. The Steyr family doesn't want to lose the Imperial Crown. Six of the twelve electors support us. This is the result of decades of operation by my father. That old fox wanted to wear the Imperial Crown a long time ago. This time, the matter of the Nelenis ring might be a fake from the beginning to the end."
Elizabeth's face turned pale: "Are you saying that the emperor of the empire is going to use this to attack us?"
"Isn't it obvious? The old fox didn't distribute the benefits equally, so the territory will be in chaos after his death. Unless he sends me to Lancelot's temple to be a holy knight, marries you, and leaves me as your brother."
Elizabeth seemed amused by Bruce: "You are a paladin."
Bruce: "Actually, a warrior monk is fine, as long as I don't have the right of inheritance. My sister, if I were you, I would leave this troubled place right now. Langdon has been at peace for sixty years, and it's almost time for war."
Elizabeth: "You forget that I have a world-destroying crisis to deal with."
Bruce laughed heartily, "Yeah, you still have a world-destroying crisis to deal with."
Chapter 33 The Duke's Fall
That night, Elizabeth's entire team stayed in the guest rooms of the Duke's Mansion.
After all, they had just been attacked, and a trip to find a cat had turned into a life-and-death fight. The princess certainly had no chance of leaving the Duke's Mansion tonight.
As for the other members of the team, they were all heroes who saved the princess, and the Duke would prepare to reward them according to their merits tomorrow morning.
In the public living room of the guest room, Flint was excitedly showing off the wine he found in the guest room's kitchen: "Look! Although I don't know what sherry is, as long as it's wine, no dwarf will refuse it!"
Misha Sara teased, "You obviously disliked the honey beer at the Three Boars Tavern."
"That's different! I don't recognize that as wine!" the dwarf said as he pulled out the cork of the sherry and sniffed it. "Oh, this smell is not that kind of sissy wine. Come and try it!"
As he spoke, the pastor of Kailin poured the wine into the oak cup, took a sip directly from it, and then his face twisted into a ball: "Why is it sweet?"
The cat man laughed and continued to tease, "You don't understand. This is human wine. You can't drink it right away. You have to appreciate its color first, then smell its flavor, and then taste it in small sips. If you drink it all in one gulp like this, you won't be able to taste it."
Flint frowned. "What the hell! Forget it. I'll ask His Highness to get me some really strong Shire liquor later."
As he was putting the cork back into the bottle, Elizabeth opened the door and came in: "Good evening, everyone."
Misha Sara smiled and said, "I thought you went to the dance. I heard the music from the ballroom."
Elizabeth sighed. "How can I have the heart to attend the ball under such circumstances? I just went to greet my father and happened to see my eldest brother reporting to him about the underground reconnaissance. The rangers of the team believe that there is a large group of at least 500 goblins underground. The number of kobolds is incalculable."
The wizard who had been flipping through the books in the guest room looked up and said, "Five hundred! The Knights and city defense forces guarding the city of Langdon are simply not enough to deal with these guys, not even the city guards. Goblins and kobolds are good at operating in the dark underground."
Elizabeth: "Yes. So my brother is going to mobilize poison and use the poisonous smoke produced by burning the poison to kill these evil creatures."
"Wait a minute!" Misha Sara raised her hand, "What about the wanderers on the underground floor?"
Elizabeth: "Are there any homeless people? We didn't encounter any when we went down, did we?"
Michaela: "Of course not. We have a tin can that clanks when it walks, and it's obviously equipped with a spellcaster, and a beautiful lady like you. All wanderers run away before they enter the dwarf's darkvision range."
"But Marika didn't tell us there were any homeless people?" Elizabeth looked at Marika, who was hiding nearby and blending into the darkness away from the candlestick.
The drow replied, "I found many wanderers, but since they posed no threat, I had no time to report them."
Elizabeth turned around immediately: "I'll go tell my brother!"
Marykal stopped her and said, "If we can eliminate the kobolds and goblins underground, the death of a few wanderers is acceptable."
Elizabeth: "No, we should at least notify the homeless and let them take shelter."
Wang: "Then the enemy will also seek refuge."
Elizabeth looked at the king and then at Marika.
The king continued, "However, I think using poisonous smoke is a bad idea. It is too inefficient. And it cannot guarantee the killing of all the goblins and kobolds."
Elizabeth's hope was rekindled: "What can we do?"
"Mobilize enough troops, have rangers and rogues track down the enemy and kill them all."
Elizabeth: "We have to use poisonous smoke because we don't have that many troops to mobilize."
Marika: "Your Highness, sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two evils."
Elizabeth looked a little depressed. "That's what I was taught. But... King, can you give me some advice? Can we keep these wanderers alive and achieve our goal?"
Wang frowned: "This is a bit difficult."
The dwarf chimed in, "He is a wizard, not a magician. He can't make people disappear out of thin air. But as Cailin's priest, I also hope that these homeless people will not be sacrificed. Cailin is a kind god after all. But He won't force it."
Wang: “It’s not that there is no solution at all.”
The dwarf was shocked: "Is there any solution to this problem?"
The king continued, "I will choose to delay the time for your brother to take action and see if our decoy is effective. The mastermind must be commanding the goblins and kobolds in some way. If we catch him and find out how he commands, we can lure the goblins and kobolds into a trap and kill them all."
Elizabeth's expression immediately brightened: "You must have a solution. I'll go talk to my brother now..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang suddenly raised his hand and made a "quiet" gesture.
Seeing this, the dwarf immediately blew out the candlestick on the table in one breath.
Races with darkvision have an advantage in the dark, and there's no reason not to take advantage of this if you have dwarves and drow in your party.
But the king opened the window and let in a crow.
As soon as the crow came in, he shouted, "Something's wrong! The Duke has fainted!"
Elizabeth turned suddenly and bumped into something in the dark.
The king said, "Don't get excited. It may just be a common physical problem. Besides, isn't the Duke planning the next move with the eldest prince? The eldest prince should be watching over him. In any case, let's go to the Duke's study to see what's going on."
**
The Duke's study had been transformed into a small altar with astonishing rapidity.
A large number of Lancelot priests crowded into the room, their gold-plated white robes almost blinding the king's eyes.
The Duke had been placed on the table. They were probably worried that he could not be safely moved to a place with a bed in his current condition, so they had to deal with it temporarily. The holy emblem of Lancelot, which had been brought from some church, was placed above the old man's head, acting as a light source.
Of course, in addition to the holy emblem, dozens of double candlesticks were added throughout the room to dispel the shadows in every corner of the room.
Elizabeth rushed directly to her father and grabbed the old man's hand: "Dad! What's wrong with you, Dad?"
The king's attention was not on the princess, but on the second prince who was also in the room.
Bruce also looked at Wang seriously and made a gesture with his hand to let him pay attention to his surroundings.
The king began to observe his surroundings. At this moment, the eldest prince spoke up: "Mage, you came from that magic tower, so you should be well-informed, right? Take a look at this bottle. It contains my father's stomach medicine."
The Duke was afraid of being assassinated, so he asked poison testers to test the food 24 hours in advance. To keep the food fresh before the test results came out, the dishes were refrigerated in a magic ice cellar.
Because he had been eating cold dishes, the Duke's stomach was in very bad condition and he had to take stomach medicine.
The king took the bottle and asked, "Your Highness..."
"My name is Wayne Langdon, just call me by my first name."
At this time, the priest in gorgeous robes asked, "Your Highness, you just said this person is... the apprentice of that person?"
"Yes."
The priests all looked at the king with surprised eyes, while he concentrated on studying the bottle in his hand. While studying it, he continued to ask the previous question: "Your Highness, Your Highness Wayne, this stomach medicine was prepared by you, right?"
"No, I am only responsible for collecting the materials, and my father's pharmacist is responsible for refining. Now those pharmacists have been arrested by me and are being interrogated."