Pushing open the heavy wooden door of the secret room, a faint scent of benzoin greeted him, and Archbishop Mayne loved the candle mixed with herbs and spices, especially in confined spaces without windows, where the smell of the candle made him feel calm.

The chamber was small, with only a round table and four chairs, and the other two archbishops were already seated in their seats, while the first one facing the wooden door was still empty. The Pope's physical condition deteriorated, and he did not appear in front of everyone for almost half a year. Only when he is confronted with a difficult problem will he go to the privy chamber of the Hermes institution and seek answers from the Pope in person.

"When we're all there, let's get started. Mayne plugged in the doorbolt and sat between the two, "Lord Teflon, how is order in the Kingdom of Eternal Winter maintained?"

"Apart from the nobles of the royal capital, there are very few rebels in other places, and the commoners even welcome us to take over the kingdom. Teflon stroked his beard and said, "Of course, those nobles who cling to the past glory and cling to the end will be eradicated one by one." ”

"That's good," Heather licked her lips, "if it were to be judged by me, the people would be more aware of their ugly and dirty side, but unfortunately I still have a lot of things to do here, and I can't go to the Eternal Winter King's City." ”

Mayne directly ignored her words and said to Teflon: "Those vacant places, our people should fill them as soon as possible." The Church has trained a large number of talents for this purpose, and now is the time to use it. Eternal Winter is the kingdom with the greatest influence from the Church, and the smaller the turmoil, the sooner we can free up our hands to deal with Wolfheart and Dawn. ”

"This is nature. ”

"What about the wall-to-wall grass that has come to the church, I mean the aristocracy?" asked Heather, "the reason why the church attracts so many good believers is that we don't ask about blood, we only look at ability. Accepting the words of those fools would shake the foundation of the church. My suggestion is ......," she gestured to wipe her neck.

"Leave it alone for now, and wait for the situation in the kingdom to stabilize, and then make it clear to them, so that there will be less resistance to change. On this point, Mayne specifically consulted the Pope, "The Church may provide authority equal to their title, but not to succeed to future generations." Don't forget that we're going to wipe out the kingship eventually, so there's no need to rush it, Lord Heather. ”

Heather was born poor and suffered from hunger and wanderlust before being taken in by the Church. But with her natural sharp mind and extraordinary judgment, she has come to where she is today step by step. Mayne understands her dislike of aristocrats, but at this time, she still has to focus on the big picture.

"How's the situation at the Grey Keep?" he asked.

"According to the intelligence, the new king Tifeko did not return to the royal capital after suffering a defeat, but went directly to the east. Teflon replied.

"Clever choice," Heather snapped her fingers, "pull Duke Fran to challenge Queen Bishui, and immediately after the Duke dies, he will go to the east to carve up his territory to stabilize the morale of the army, and by the way, win over other nobles, tsk...... The royal family isn't all fools. ”

"In this way, we can also save a lot of worry, let the high priest of the Grey Keep Royal Capital Church contact him, presumably in this predicament, he will not refuse the bait thrown by the church, and the supply of medicine in the blue water port will be reduced by three percent, and the strength between the two will be balanced. I'll leave that to you, Master Teflon. Mayne arranged, "In two years, the entire Grey Keep will be left without usable troops." ”

"Don't worry," Teflon nodded, "but ...... Something went wrong with the Long Song Fortress west of Grey Keep. ”

"What's the problem?"

"The fourth prince, Roland, returned to the border town after defeating Duke Lane. Taylor's personal invitation was not answered, is he really not interested in competing for the throne?"

"Hmm...... What do you think?" Mayne looked at Heather.

The latter shrugged his shoulders and said, "What else can you see...... What were the rumors about him at first? uneducated, ill-charactered, incompetent, greedy. I don't think it's possible for such a person to take the fortress of Changge, right? So the answer is simple, he deceived everyone, whether it was the nobles or us. ”

"What do you mean......" Mayne frowned.

"Our Reign Order has chosen the wrong role, Lord Mayne," she sneered, "and he's the one who should be on stage, not Garcia, the Three Kings." ”

"Defeating a duke is a testament to his abilities, but no matter how talented a person is, it makes no sense to not have enough resources for him to use it. Teflon shook his head, "Since he chose to return to that deserted place, it means that he has given up the possibility of interfering in the situation in the Grey Keep, and naturally he will not pose any threat to our plans." ”

"Yes, in theory. But it's interesting to look at this piece of information," Heather threw out a small note, "my personal information." ”

Mayne spread out the note and quickly swiped the contents, "Witch?"

"Uh-huh, a witch organization that calls itself the Mutual Aid Society, claims to have gained a foothold in Frontier Town, and calls on the other sisters to go. Although it was all gossip and should not have been put here to talk about it, we all knew that the name Mutual Aid was not fictional, and since they were hunted by the Inquisitors in the eastern forests, they fled all the way west to the west, and finally disappeared to the west of the fortress of Changge. And the border town is just outside the western border of the Grey Castle, at the foot of the desperate mountains. Isn't this a bit too much of a coincidence?"

Mutual Aid ...... Mayne still had a little impression of the name, and was chased and intercepted by the Inquisitors all the way, and after losing a lot of personnel, he still insisted on moving in the direction of the Desperate Mountains. Torture captured witches revealed that they seemed to want to find the Holy Mountain in the wilderness. It was a self-defeating move, so he didn't put more effort into it. There are a few similar witch groups in the kingdoms of Wolfheart and Dawn, and lurking in the city is far more threatening than rushing to the wilderness to die.

"You mean, this prince hooked up with the witch organization?" Teflon's face darkened after reading the news.

"Maybe there is, or maybe not. Heather curled the corners of her mouth, "I'm just making a simple guess. What is a witch most afraid of? Obviously, it's easier to get the attention of the church by using the name Mutual Aid, but they still use it in the underground, why?"

"Because it's a familiar name to us," Mayne said calmly, "for the other witches, too. ”

"Full marks!" Heather clapped his hands twice, "This will effectively reduce the vigilance of the wild witches, and maybe someone will be attracted by this news and set off to the border town to find out the truth." It's hard to imagine that without the protection of the lord, they would dare to play such a hand. We often say that the lesser of two evils is the lesser of two evils. Obviously, the other party has already thought that the consequences of not being able to recruit a witch are more serious than the consequences of being exposed......" At this point, her tone became eerie, "I don't think we are being underestimated." ”

"It's not a trivial matter at all," Teflon exasperated, "once a witch has a place to settle and can use her abilities without any fears, she will most likely find that the so-called demon phagogue can be avoided. This is also the reason why we must encircle any settled witches, and this secret can only be maintained if they are forced to go into hiding, running around, and going into exile. ”

Mayne knew that the other party was right, witches themselves did not pose any threat to the church, but as a group, once they got rid of their identity as "evil ones", it would have a great impact on the propaganda of the church, and even shake the foundation of the church's rule.

He found himself in a dilemma, he should have sent a large number of inquisitors to encircle and suppress him, but the border town was too far away from Hermes, and the church army was about to launch an attack on the Wolf's Heart Kingdom, so it was difficult to spare manpower to destroy this remote town. Coupled with this critical juncture, sending a large number of men into the Grey Fort will inevitably arouse the vigilance of the Grey Fort and the other two countries, and may have an impact on the subsequent annexation plan.

After much thought, he made a decision.

"I will send a delegation of ten Inquisitors and a priest to the Frontier Town to investigate the matter with the assistance of High Priest Taylor. If the Aid's actions have nothing to do with the liege, the group of emissaries can destroy the witches on their own. ”

"What if so?" Heather asked.

The Divine Punishment Army cannot be led by anyone other than himself and a few close associates, this is the rule set by the Pope himself. Thinking of this, Mayne said word by word: "Send the news back to the Holy City, and I will personally lead the Divine Punishment Army there." (To be continued.) )