Chapter 92 91. Part of the truth revealed
A simple carriage bumped along the forest path.
A dull groan of pain sounded, and the embarrassed figure sitting up from the carriage, covering his forehead.
Francois, who had a splitting headache, suppressed the indescribable feeling of nausea and looked at the mottled surroundings with stiff, sore eyes.
The terrifying shadows passing around and the hoarse and strange screeching mounts turned into straight and tall birch trees and creaking wheels as their vision and consciousness became clearer.
"Hey, you. You finally woke up."
A voice sounded, and other people in the carriage gave him strange looks.
"Where am I..."
Every time Francois tried to recall what happened, a tearing pain would be felt in his skull.
“We are almost to Breeze City.” The man who spoke had a face full of vicissitudes of life, “I have been away from my hometown for more than ten years, and finally I am back...”
"What time is it..."
"It's just dawn."
The canopy of trees on both sides of the road distinguishes shadows from the faint dawn.
Francois closed his eyelids, secreting tears to moisten his dry eyeballs that had a headache.
"What happened..."
"We still want to ask you." The still vicissitudes of life man spoke, "You rushed out of the woods onto the road and passed out. If you hadn't seen that your clothes didn't look like a poor man, you would have been left behind... We saved you , how do you want to repay——"
Horrifying memories suddenly exploded in his mind. Francois recalled something and muttered out of order: "Dead...all dead..."
Other passengers took it with a hint of schadenfreude - the simplest joy often comes from the misfortunes of others.
Francois suddenly stopped shaking, his eyes oozed with blood and tears, his handsome face was filled with ferociousness, he raised his head and shouted at everyone: "I am a scavenger, come back to Breeze City quickly, the rat tide is invading Northland! ”
……
"We don't know anything, we are just civilians-"
Annan, who heard that Francois had returned, rushed to the city gate and happened to meet the scavengers taking away the civilians on the carriage.
The carriage bearing the emblem of the King of the North was blocked by scavengers, but Francois discovered him and greeted Annan.
“What happened?”
“What an unexpected surprise.” The embarrassed Francois had an excited look on his face: “We found that the Rat Man was holding a meeting near the place where you were attacked. Feast of Rotten Flesh. In order to send the news out, we dispersed and retreated. As soon as I ran to the roadside, I saw this convoy. I was worried that they were disguised as rat men, so I pretended to be unconscious and sneaked in to test them..."< br>
Annan handed him a handkerchief.
"Thank you..."
Flattered, Francois took the handkerchief and wiped the blood on his cheek. "Now that I think about it, it was too exaggerated."
The blood and tears are real, and the effect can be achieved by pricking the eyelids, but a scavenger should not react like that.
“A feast of rotten flesh and blood?”
It sounded chilling. Annan was worried about Pinglin Town, which was not far away. "Pinglin Town is nearby, won't there be any accidents?"
"Please rest assured, the feast of rotten flesh and blood is just a rat." "The rituals and feasts for people to communicate with each other." Francois said hello to his "colleagues" as scavengers, followed Annan on the carriage, and described in detail everything he encountered after setting off, and also said that he had found traces of dragon's breath. .
Annan once thought that the wizard's robe was just picked up by the blue dragon or ghost from the site of the attack.
It seems that Blue Dragon is involved?
Then in order to escape the feast, Francois and the scavengers disguised themselves as rat men, participated in the feast, and ate the carrion——
The biggest problem, other than nausea and stench, is the corruption that blessed carrion brings.
Annan lamented that the baron had paid too much, and Francois smiled carelessly: "This is nothing, this is so that you can help me wash away my shame..."
"... ...What are you going to do next?" Annan was silent for a moment and changed the subject.
"Go to the scavenger headquarters first." Francois said, "Although I took the purification potion in advance, I still have to check."
"Do you need me to come with you? "Of course!"
Francois told the groom the location of the scavenger headquarters, and then asked: "Did your investigation at the dinner go well?"
"Nothing was found...but there was some progress. Thinking of this, Annan asked: "Do you know Earl Morgan?"
"Earl Morgan is a member of the royal family, but he died of old age a few days ago. Why do you ask about him?"
“I met his wife at the banquet.”
Annan told Francois about his contact with the countess and his plan to investigate the attack through her.
“You said the countess wanted to paint a portrait of you?” Francois was so frightened that he lost his honorific.
"Is there any problem?" Annan was puzzled by his reaction.
“The problem is huge. It is said that Earl Morgan and his several wives would draw a portrait before getting married...”
“You mean that “portrait” is a kind of marriage curse?”< br>
"That's not true, magic spells are not that cheap, but this may be a... tradition." Francois tentatively asked: "Have you painted it?"
"Not yet."
Annan shook his head and said: "...My sister sent a letter using Crow Messenger, so I left the banquet early."
Francois still felt a little sorry for Annan.
The power left behind by a dead earl is incomparable to that of the King in the North, but in Breeze City, not many people are willing to provoke him.
...
The carriage driving into the park stopped in front of a wooden house.
“This is the scavenger headquarters?”
Annan asked Francois who jumped off the carriage, and it was difficult to understand after getting the answer: “Are they working on the grass?”
< br>Francois said mysteriously: "You will know soon."
After taking Annan to the wooden house, an old man wearing dirty linen clothes held a book and leaned against the drafty wooden house.
It’s just that Annan was stopped outside.
Francois solemnly introduced him: "The person standing in front of you is one of the twelve kings of the North who guarded the North and drove away the demon tide, beast tide, and rat tide, the King of the North. Annan Reeves.”
The old man drooped his eyes: “Where is the badge?”
"You can't enter without a badge."
"It doesn't matter, I'll wait for you here."
Annan watched curiously as Francois got into the hut, and then disappeared as if swallowed by darkness. No trace.
Attention falls on the old man. Annan didn't feel anything like Augusta Olmedo's aura from him. He came a little closer and glanced at the words on the book——
[Padilla bit the pink grape lightly...]
"Well..."
Annan returned to the carriage and never waited for Francois to appear.
Later, a scavenger came and told Annan that Francois was slightly corrupted and needed to be purified.
In any case, Francois's trip confirmed one thing: the attack on the King in the North was indeed related to the Skaven.
Driving back to the manor, as soon as she returned to the bedroom, the head maid handed Annan a letter.
"A maid who calls herself the Count's Manor has sent you this letter."
(End of Chapter)