Chapter 62

On the morning of June 19th, at the "Rose Cross" convent.

Compared to the extravagant lifestyle of the nobles, Sally's life could be described as tranquil. Of course, this "tranquility" was only superficial. The front area of the convent was a large cathedral, a public space where citizens of the city could enter. The nuns within the convent, however, could only begin their activities after the morning prayers. As a "candidate priest," Sally's current status was still that of a "nun," so her position in the convent was not as exalted as one might imagine. She had to perform the same labor as everyone else, including cleaning the church floor, tidying up the rooms, and helping the bishop organize documents.

For the nobles, such tasks might seem somewhat "undignified," but as the daughter of a duke, Sally still adhered to the teachings, diligently performing these tasks that others might consider "base." As a result, the mostly common-born monks and priests in the convent quickly dispelled their initial prejudices and developed a good impression of the beautiful Miss Sally.

Thus, Sally quickly built a network of relationships within the convent—avoiding offending anyone while skillfully managing all interpersonal relations. This might sound simple, but it was actually quite challenging. At just sixteen years old, Sally truly demonstrated her ability in this regard.

This was a side of her that Rody had never seen before.

After noon, Sally, dressed in a white cassock, walked out of the convent's rear quarters and entered the front hall of the cathedral as usual. Bishop Benjamin had once bluntly warned Sally not to step outside the convent, so the front hall was the limit of her activity area. As she entered, a warm summer breeze gently blew through the entrance. The girl lifted her head, squinted her eyes, and tightened her slightly clenched fist.

No one noticed that what she held in her hand was not the "Rose Cross" emblem of the temple, but a small, intricately designed dice.

"May the gods watch over you."

Murmuring the temple's maxim, Sally greeted the devout believers and walked to a seat in the corner of the front hall, where she began a second prayer, something the other monks did not do.

Sally had been doing this for over a month. To others, it might just seem like a sign of her piety, but after ten minutes of prayer, a blind old man felt his way to a seat not far from Sally and began to pray softly.

Such a situation was not uncommon, as injured commoners often prayed to the gods, hoping for relief from their ailments. So the old man did not attract any attention—until he finished his prayer and tried to stand up with his cane, trembling. Sally, noticing this, immediately got up to help him.

To others, this was a normal act of kindness, but no one noticed that the blind old man chose a path that avoided most people in the cathedral, and when Sally helped him, no one paid attention to the nun's expression or the words she whispered—

"Is everything settled?"

"Miss, Francis's attention is currently on Viscount Terry. The next target is likely to be Baron Ford. We have already prepared the false evidence, and his people will soon fall for it."

"Good work, keep it up."

"There's new news. Bishop Rubens seems to be planning a visit to the Aivert territory in the fall, which would be a good opportunity for Bishop Benjamin to meet him. At that time, your position as a priest should be confirmed."

"Ah, I have already confirmed this news."

Sally smiled, her lips barely moving. "Any news from there?"

"The Duke has not had any activities recently and remains in his study."

"Not the Duke's residence, I mean... Nolan Village."

"We have sent people, but there has been no response. We are afraid of being noticed by Francis's people, so it might take about seven days for news. However, we just received word that the nearby village of Clee was attacked by orc wolf riders... there were no survivors."

The old man's words were barely audible, but when Sally heard this news, her fingers, which were gently supporting him, suddenly tightened.

"...Clee Village?"

"The cavalry from Condon Fort went to investigate, expecting nothing, but they found five or six war wolves in the grasslands. It seems the wolf riders retreated and left the war wolves behind."

Sally, hearing this unexpected news, recalled the person who had once safely returned her to Holier City. A sudden thought crossed her mind, and she immediately asked, "How many wolf riders were there?"

"According to the news from Clee Village, there were about forty."

"So many..."

Sally's plans were immediately overturned. No matter how she thought about it, that person couldn't have taken out so many wolf riders, especially since killing ten of them had almost cost him his life. She realized that what she needed to do now was to prevent Francis from finding him...

Unconsciously, they had reached the entrance of the front hall. Sally stopped, gently reminding the old man to be careful of the road, and subtly slipped a folded piece of parchment into his hand. The blind old man thanked her repeatedly, bowed several times, and then slowly walked away.

Sally did not linger at the entrance. Her gaze swept over the two dozing temple guards. Although she knew Francis would not dare to attack her at the temple entrance, she did not trust the lax guards at the convent's gate.

If she wanted to feel safe, she would probably feel more secure with the guy who carried a horn bow by her side.

She hadn't felt such a sense of ease and security in a long time. Thinking of Rody, Sally felt a sense of nostalgia. But as for "missing" him... Sally quickly denied this word in her heart. Fingering the bone dice, she blushed when she remembered that he had given it to her.

"Don't fight if you can't win, please don't get hurt..."

Sighing softly, Sally ultimately felt that she couldn't let go of her worries. The parchment she had given to her subordinate listed all the measures and efforts to be taken against Francis, including how to continue misleading her brother, covering up the unusual behavior of the Nolan Village scouts, quietly growing her influence beyond Francis's notice, and even forming a dedicated team to protect her safety.

At the same time, Sally was also monitoring her father's condition and predicting Francis's next moves.

Struggle was never just a simple matter of you hit me and I hit you, especially among the nobles. Every conflict, like an assassination attempt, was the result of countless preparations.

The last mistake almost cost Sally her life, so when she regained her footing in the convent, the young daughter of a duke would not simply sit and wait for her fate.

Her gaze swept over the street outside the cathedral, and the few spies Francis had placed to monitor her were obvious, lacking any subtlety.

"Hmph."

A cold look flashed in her eyes. As the young nun turned, her face once again showed a warm smile as she calmly returned to the cathedral.

...

Seventeen days after the battle against the wolf riders, on June 21st.

A warm summer breeze blew over the peaceful Nolan Village. Farmers, wearing straw hats, squatted in the shade of their houses, occasionally shading their eyes to look outside the village. At the village entrance, over thirty scouts were constantly practicing charges on their warhorses. Whenever they saw a soldier skillfully cut down a straw dummy with a precise and sharp sword, they would cheer and applaud.

The thundering hooves of over thirty warhorses created a grand spectacle. After seeing this many times, the villagers' initial panic over the wolf rider massacre gradually subsided.

Since the arrival of fifteen strong young men seventeen days ago, the villagers had seen these young men training hard every day: running ten laps in the morning and evening, shouting slogans like "one two three four," "one two one," "exercise for the country," and singing songs with strange lyrics about "unity is strength" or "we are soldiers" at night. The farmers had never heard such tunes, but after a few times, they found them catchy, and the melodies echoed in their ears like a brainwash.

Now, farmers carrying hoes would hum "the sun sets and the red clouds fly" while walking through the fields, swaying their heads and enjoying themselves.

Rody himself hadn't expected this situation—after all, hearing the farmers sing Chinese songs in Brinjara was quite amusing, but after getting used to it, he found himself constantly humming the lyrics, realizing that "military songs" were not just for show.

Speaking of which, after leading the team to completely eliminate Kosa's wolf rider unit, Soderl and his subordinates were thoroughly convinced and no longer had any objections to the organization and leadership. The impact of that battle would influence them for a long time. Under this influence, Rody smoothly began a new training plan.

The so-called "new plan" was essentially an enhanced version of the previous "military training": starting from the dormitory's internal affairs, to marching and standing at attention, Rody wanted to instill the concept of "obeying orders." Making soldiers obey and execute orders might seem natural, but in this era, most people did not recognize its importance. On the battlefield, any order not strictly followed could have unimaginable consequences, so starting with this basic awareness was a common practice in many large guilds.

Rody's approach was similar to that of the powerful PVP guilds of the past.