The Survival Rules of NPCs

Chapter 17: The City Lord's Wife's Visit.

That's really unreasonable...

The empire and local nobles were in a state of mutual checks and balances, not hostility. The royal family and the religion also needed the nobles to help manage the land. So why send a prosecutor from the Ministry of Justice to fight on the front lines? Was it just to regain control of a city? What was the point?

For this city to function properly, we need to bring in central nobles; otherwise, we won't even be able to gather the basic components of a city. But why would nobles from other cities come to such a remote place as Holy Stone City? Unless there's something to profit from it.

Brett stroked his chin. After understanding the workings of the aristocracy in this world, he realized that with his current perspective and intelligence, he couldn't deduce the reason. Now, he could only try to take it one step at a time.

"The reasons are still uncertain, but we must stop this from happening; neither of us can leave this city."

"How do we stop it?" Elsie frowned. "A cult that can instantly control the families of hundreds of sheriffs, a prosecutor in charge of the city's judicial forces, and most likely the presiding judge is on his side—the fact that you found me means you don't have any powerful backers, right?"

That's what you're saying...

Bright curled his lip, then said, "What if the city lord is on our side?"

"Lord of the city?" Elsie frowned and pondered upon hearing this. "Lord Martin lacks courage and influence. The local nobles are more willing to side with Lord Allen."

Should we side with Lord Eren?

Bright immediately sensed something was wrong.

According to information received by Gou Dan, the person Allen asked Gou Dan to deliver the message to was the same person who had asked Gou Dan to assassinate the city lord.

When the city lord was assassinated, he was poisoned by the Thousand Faces Flower. Gou Dan was also connected with the Heart of the Forest sect, so this Minister of Internal Affairs is most likely a member of the Heart of the Forest!

Of course, there are some illogical points to this. Why would a highly respected Minister of the Interior use poison to control these nobles? It is clearly unreasonable.

However, given the current situation, it is certainly not appropriate to consider the Home Minister as an ally.

"There's something wrong with Allen..." Bright shook his head directly: "We need to win over other more reliable forces."

"Is there something wrong with Lord Allen?" Elsie recalled the letter that the assassin had stolen from Lord Allen. Where did this guy get his information? Why did she suddenly feel that there was something wrong with Lord Allen?

Seeing that Bright didn't intend to answer, Elsie thought for a moment and said, "If we want to avoid Lord Allen, then there will be very few people we can win over. The one with the best chance of resolving the crisis should be Lord Knight Commander Orland. Theoretically speaking, the Knight Commander is the direct superior of all knights. If there is a war, all the knights' warriors are under his command."

"Theoretically?"

"Yes, but theoretically, seven out of the ten knights in Holy Stone City are appointed by people other than the city lord, and are controlled by the nobles who invested here. The position of knight itself does not have the authority to appoint warriors. To put it bluntly, the warriors under their command are still appointed by those nobles. The knight captain and the city lord only have three knights under their control, including myself..."

"Even so, the Knight Commander still has the most soldiers under his command. Lord Orland himself is a viscount and one of the nobles who joined the alliance at the beginning. The Orland family is also an old knight family. When the old city lord won him over, he not only promised a relatively high share of tax revenue, but also the position of Knight Commander, so that Lord Orland's seal of authority could be used to appoint knights instead of being wasted on some farmers or workers. Therefore, Lord Orland has the largest number of knights under his command, and they are also the most elite."

"That sounds good..." Blatt nodded. "Then how about this, I'll go to the city lord, and you can persuade the knight commander."

"So... you're not one of the city lord's people either?" Elsie covered her head, wondering where this guy came from.

"Don't worry about the details," Bright laughed. "I didn't say I was on the city lord's side. I just said that if the city lord is on our side..."

"Are you sure?" Elsie asked, suppressing her frustration.

"I'm somewhat confident..." Bright said sincerely, "Sir Elthy, you might think I'm unreliable, but I'm the only one on your side. We're all small fry, and to survive in this kind of storm, small fry have to stick together, don't they?"

Elsie chuckled. She didn't think this guy was any small fry. The assassin who stole Lord Allen's letter was no ordinary person. Even the Knight Commander might not be a match for him. How could someone like that be a small fry to serve?

But he had no choice, because he was indeed a nobody, and it seemed that the only way to keep his current position was to follow the other party's lead. If he could really persuade the city lord and the knight commander, there might be a glimmer of hope.

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"Master, the wind and snow are so heavy, and it's the middle of the night. It's too dangerous to come to the refugee area in the north of the city."

"Isn't it you who protects me? My most trusted knight?" Eliza said weakly.

Peter straightened his back, a clear smile appearing on his face: "Of course I can protect you, Madam, but given your health, you shouldn't be coming to this place so late."

"Kaylan sent me here, saying that there is a master here who can resolve the crisis in the city lord's mansion."

"A master?" Peter exclaimed angrily, "That kid never tells a word of truth, and he's just a good-for-nothing pretty boy who dares to call himself Kaylan!"

Among the Highgardeners, Kaylan represents a fearless warrior. How dare a treacherous assassin call himself that?

"But he did save me..." Eliza said calmly.

"This is definitely a conspiracy, madam!"

"Whether it's a conspiracy or not, I have to come and see. Besides, having you here is my greatest source of confidence."

"Can......."

"Alright, we've arrived." Eliza drew back the curtain of the carriage and saw the crematorium standing high up. As far as she knew, after Old John died, the person who inherited his job as a corpse collector was just a boy who was not even twenty years old. What kind of master could such a person be?

"Hey, open the door, it's the body collector!" Peter rudely knocked on the outside door, looking impatient.

After a long while, just as Peter was about to kick open the dilapidated door, it opened, and Brett, wearing a black cloak, gently opened the door.

Seeing the knight, who was as tall as a grizzly bear, and that tall, beautiful figure, Bright knew that Dog Egg's words had worked. Fortunately, he had restrained himself from going directly to the other party's door. The other party taking the initiative to come to the door and him coming to the door were two completely different negotiation situations.

"Your Excellency Lady of the City, Sir Peter, you are a little late."

Eliza glanced at Bright, surprised that someone who collected corpses could be so handsome. It was a waste of his looks to be in such a lowly profession. Could this be the expert that Kaylan recommended?

After leading the two into the house, Bright brought out a brazier of charcoal.

"What's that smell?" Peter frowned and glanced at the next room. It smelled like burnt meat.

"The smell of burning corpses," Bright said after closing the doors and windows. "Last night's heavy snow and flu outbreak caused many deaths in the refugee camp."

Peter looked disgusted, while Eliza asked, "Kaylan recommended me, saying you could answer some of the questions that are happening right now."

Kailan?

Brett immediately realized that it must be Gou Dan's alias. After all, it's impossible to actually use such a ridiculous online name when communicating with people, right?

"What would you like to know, Madam?"

"I want to know who is targeting the Luther family," Eliza asked, directly posing her most pressing question.

"This isn't targeting the Luther family," Bright said slowly and deliberately, "it's targeting all the nobles of Holy Stone City!"

"Nonsense!" Peter scoffed.

"If you don't believe me, you can leave now. There are many corpses tonight, and I'm busy too."

Peter stood up with a cold laugh, his massive body exuding immense pressure: "Mind your place, you're supposed to be burning corpses, yet you dare to disrespect the city lord's wife?"

Brett lowered his head and didn't say anything more, but suddenly a cold chill swept through the room. Peter turned around sharply, but there was nothing behind him. The windows and doors of the narrow room were tightly closed, and he was standing in a blind spot with no one behind him, but he had clearly felt someone behind him just now.

In an instant, a bead of cold sweat slid down my back.

"What did you do?"

"Lady Eliza," Bright said quietly, looking up, "I think the conversation can only continue if this knight leaves. What do you think?"

Peter was furious upon hearing this, but he didn't dare to continue insulting her as before. Instead, he carefully shielded Eliza behind him. His intuition told him that something was wrong with the person in front of him. He remembered that a wizard in the north had given him a similar feeling. Could this person be a superhuman?

"Peter, wait for me outside."

"Madam, this person is not right..." Peter quickly refused.

Eliza smiled, for it was precisely because something was amiss that it made sense. If he were just an ordinary corpse collector, why would she go to all this trouble to come here?

"Go ahead," Mrs. Eliza said gently, but her words left no room for argument.

Peter gritted his teeth, finally bowed, and obediently went outside. He knew Eliza's temper very well, and if he objected again, he would be disobeying her.

"Your knight cares about you, but he is not necessarily loyal."

Eliza was taken aback. Peter hadn't left yet, but it seemed as if she hadn't heard what he said at all. Moreover, it sounded like he was whispering in her ear, even though he was sitting right across from her.

boom......

As Peter closed the door, Eliza snapped out of her reverie. Looking at the smiling boy with a serious expression, she remembered how, when she was very young, she had secretly tried to steal the bell from her waist while the wizard was talking to her parents.

But before he could reach out, the wizard's voice rang in his ear: "If you misbehave again, little one, I'll throw you in the furnace!"

She could see clearly that the other person was chatting and laughing with her parents and did not turn around, but the voice still reached her ears. Her parents seemed not to hear it at all. That was the first time she had witnessed extraordinary power.

I never expected to see this again in such a young corpse collector after so many years.

"So the corpse collector of our Holy Stone City is actually a wizard?" Eliza asked with a smile.

"It doesn't matter..." Bright neither denied nor admitted that his ability to project his spirit into others' bodies and whisper behind their backs was still under development. Using it only once or twice had already made him feel very weak. It seemed he would have to train more in the future.

"Then what's important?"

"The important thing is that the Luther family is in dire straits, and you, Madam... need my help!"