Boom!
A moment after Lady Aurora disappeared from her place, a loud explosion resounded. It happened in the air, as the battlefield still remained untouched.
Sylvester kept looking at the far west side to see what Lady Aurora would do. The Duke's camp was situated there, and he could already see a few dots of men standing in a cluster and panicking.
"She's very strong, Lord Bard. Don't worry about her." Duke Zephyr said.
'This fucker!' Sylvester cursed under his breath. He could feel the scent of lust in the Duke's voice. 'Well, she is indeed pretty, can't be helped.'
Boom!
Once again, the boom resounded, and the earth shook for once. Sylvester noticed a figure appear in the air above the camp of Duke Grimton. Then, a beautiful streak of blue light struck down like an arch of the sword.
Boom!
Everything shook when her sword touched the ground, and the battlefield paused for a moment as the knights tried to stay afoot.
The next thing they knew, Lady Aurora seemed to counter a few attacks from the guards of the Duke. She easily blocked the oncoming attacks of fire, wind, water, and air with her sword and replied back with overwhelming force.
In no time, she made the guards kneel. Then, when only the Duke remained standing, she grabbed the old fat man by the arm and dragged him along. Then, she appeared to make a jump once again and disappeared from the spot.
A few moments later, she appeared near the hill Sylvester stood on, with the Duke being dragged by the arm, already passed out and somewhat hurt as blood oozed out of a few flesh wounds.
The entire ordeal lasted only three minutes at maximum, and Lady Aurora was back, having not even broken a sweat. She just threw the Duke near Sylvester and clapped her hands clean. "That's your man, Archpriest. I hope this solves the war and this bloody mess."
"Thank you, Lady Aurora." Sylvester thanked her and walked to the unconscious Duke. He used basic healing to stop the bleeding and then made the man sit on the chair.
Splash!
He made water on his palm and threw it on Duke Grimton's face. The man was the polar opposite of what Duke Zephyr was. This Duke Grimton was old with short white hair, a beard, and a fat belly. He was a short man, likely around five foot five, and there was not an ounce of muscle on his body. As for the face, it seemed round, fitting a man spoiled with food all his life.
'What's this pattern? Both Count Jartel and Duke Grimton are fat, while on the other side of the border, Count Raftel and Duke Zephyr are thin.' Sylvester wondered as he tried to wake up Duke Grimton.
"Let me try." Duke Zephyr walked forward. "I know how to wake him up. When I was little, he used to come to my family castle and mess around with the servant women. I used to beat his ass even when he was meant to be more than a decade older than me."
Pa!
Duke Zephyr slapped Duke Grimton's chubby face, sending waves down the layers of skin.
Pa!
When the second slap hit the man, he groaned and slowly woke up. He was initially unaware of where he was, but after rubbing his eyes for a few minutes, he looked around and recognised Duke Zephyr. "F-Fuck! Kill me if you want, Zephyr... I will not surrender!"
Sylvester dragged a chair and sat beside Duke Grimton. "Your grace, I am Sylvester Maximilian, sent from the Holy Land. I have found out that you ordered your men to kill me. Do you know what this means for your Duchy? Everything, each and every noble house under you, can be purged out of existence.
"So the best option for you right now is to tell me everything. Why did you attack Count Jartel? Why did you give such orders? What's your grand plan?" Sylvester asked the Duke. He knew that the man was not easily going to confess. The only way to make him speak was to make him realise that even if he wins, his Duchy will be burned to the ground for his crime.
"Let's say you kill me today, right now. You will then have to deal with Duke Zephyr, as he witnessed everything. Duke Grimton... this is your last chance to save your Duchy from total annihilation. Tell me everything or..."
Sylvester smelled the rising fear, anger, rage, and anxiety in the man's heart. His words were having an effect.
Duke Zephyr pressed further. "Speak, you fat oaf. Why did you do something so foolish? Speak, or know that the beautiful lady who brought you here is a Guardian of Light. She can easily end your bloodline."
Duke Grimton, alone and surrounded by a few faces he knew and most others he didn't, felt overwhelmed and scared. But what scared him the most was Sylvester's threat. The threat that no matter what happens today, he may have his entire bloodline removed.
"I didn't do it for myself! I did it because I was forced. M-My granddaughter has been taken away. I tried my best to find her over the past ten days, but I could not. Then... a letter came." Duke Grimton confessed, snivelling as well in a low voice. "My granddaughter... she's just ten years old, Lord bard... and the kidnapper has a history of... the kidnapper is the one who killed Count Jartel's wife and tried to kill Count Raftel's wife!"
"How are you so sure?" Sylvester questioned. He finally felt all the loose ends were connecting and forming a story.
Duke took out a parchment from his pocket. "This is the letter... and that man also sent..."
Duke stopped in the middle, and his eyes welled up with tears. His face scowled as if in mental anguish and total fear. Sylvester could smell the mental seizure the man was going through. It was clear that Duke Grimton was a man with a fragile resolve and brain from all that.
"What was it? Speak, Duke. Don't waste time here." Sylvester raised his voice.
"He sent me a box with two pairs of chopped female breasts! Everyone knows what happened to the wives of the Count Brothers! That man would have done the same to my little granddaughter!"
Sylvester sighed and opened the letter to read and analyse it. In it, he found various details about the murder of Count Jartel's wife. The description was vivid enough to suggest that this was the man behind it.
In the following few passages, the letter ordered the Duke to lay siege to Count Jartel for money mismanagement and stealing from taxes. If he didn't do it, the Duke's granddaughter would be killed, and her chopped body would be sent to him. The breasts were sent as a trailer.
There was also a time limit that stated that the Duke needed to defeat the Count by the morning of a specific day.
"This is written with a right hand." Sylvester evaluated it after reading it. "Duke Zephyr, can you show me your letter?"
Soon, he had both the parchments on the table side by side. He tried to compare a few things in how each letter was written. Obviously, both had different handwriting, but each person as a particular way of writing certain letters.
"It's the same person!" Sylvester concluded soon after.
"W-What do you mean? What's this letter?" Duke Grimton asked.
Sylvester stood up and walked left and right while thinking. "Duke Grimton, this kidnapping is not about harming your family. This whole ordeal, from the murder and attempted murder of Counts' wives to this, is a combined conspiracy. The goal is to destroy this entire region of Northern Gracia. I don't believe this conspiracy is the work of a single man either because who is to gain from all this?"
Sylvester tried to connect the dots and think about who could be behind all this. Who could be this rich and powerful?
"But Lord Bard!" Duke Grimton started after wiping his eyes. "The letter didn't entirely lie to me. What it said about Count Jartel stealing taxes from me was real. I had my accountants investigate the matter, and everything was clear. He has stolen nearly five million gold graces. I have proof."
"Lies!" Count Jartel roared. "This is slander! I did no such thing. On the contrary, I counted the tax each week before I sent it to you. I am a man of faith, and I would never lie!"
"Then care to explain where-"
"Silence!" Sylvester roared. "Open your eyes! You're being pitched against each other. Think from your brain, Duke Grimton. Just when you received the letter about your granddaughter, Duke Zephyr also received a letter telling him you're going to attack. If I was not here, you two would be fighting each other as of now!"
"Who could be behind all this?" Count Raftel wondered in a low voice.
"Wait!" Felix exclaimed all of a sudden. He pointed to Duke Grimton. "Why did you lie on the battlefield? You announced Count Jartel and Raftel had died. Do you not fear god for using such schemes?"
"It was not me." Duke Grimton defended himself. "It was done by a mercenary I hired. He said we should kill the two dogs of the Counts they had named on each other and announce their deaths."
"Did you see this mercenary? What did he look like?" Sylvester interrogated.
"He had a half-mask on at all times under the hood. His eyes were brown, however, and his skin was tanned. From the way he spoke, he was likely from the west. But men from the west are common in our Duchy, so I didn't mind when I hired him and his team."
"Who suggested you hire them?"
"It was my Prima... Sir Wulfric. He's a great man with amazing talents in law management. He said he hires those mercenaries for various work."
'Prima!' That word took home in Sylvester's mind.
He looked around and finally saw the man. "Archbishop Raymond!..."
400 GT = 1 Bonus chapter.
1 Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.
APE TOGETHER STRONG!
