The Grey Fort Royal Capital, a garden mansion in the inner city. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Today is the scheduled day of the exchange of information, and Tassa sits back in the soft chair in the living room, waiting for the arrival of the members of the Pigeon and Top Hat Acrobatic Troupe. In autumn, the inner city gate was closed in the evening, and secret meetings had to be held in the afternoon.

The first to arrive at the mansion was always Hill Fox.

He wore a blue velvet open-collar jacket, light gray leggings, mocskin boots, and a white bow tie around his neck. After saluting, he handed back the History of Kingdom Customs and Customs, which was clipped under his armpit, to Tassa, who took the book and glanced at him with interest, "Finished?"

"Yes," Ciel nodded, then hesitated, "You don't teach me some fighting swordsmanship...... Or assassination techniques?"

"Why?"

"When the disease broke out, you said you would train me to be a qualified intelligence officer," he scratched his head, "but so far you've only given me some weird books to read. ”

"You mean the History of Customs?" said Tassa, pouring himself a glass of wine and tossing in two ice cubes, "this is not an uncommon book, it records the origins, traditions, family coats, and treasures of the nobility in various parts of the kingdom. As an intelligence gatherer, you must first be well-informed in order to roughly determine whether the information from various places is valuable or not. As for swordsmanship and assassination?" he smiled, "I don't plan on letting you infiltrate an organization or go deep into the enemy's interior to find out the news, which would be dangerous and time-consuming. ”

"But not everybody can be bought," Hill insisted.

"And those tissues that don't leak are also difficult to insert into the eyes, and it is unlikely that they will dive into them without more than ten or twenty years of effort. Tasa shook his glass and took a sip of ice wine, "There are only two things a good intelligence officer can do: discern the message and hide himself. These books I have given you are the basis for discerning the message, and as for the second point...... As an acrobatic troupe member, you should be more experienced than me. For example, you're dressed up very well today. ”

"......" Just as Hill Fox looked down and pondered the meaning of these words, the clown and others also rushed to the remote residence one after another.

"My lord, everyone is here. ”

"In that case, let's get started," Tasa said, putting down his glass and spreading out his notepad, "who will come first?"

"I'll start with that, my lord," Iwaiyama, the burliest of the man, was the first to speak, "and the camp on the outskirts of the eastern part of the royal capital has been inhabited by a new group of newcomers. ”

This news made the guards frown slightly, but they didn't expect that the first piece of information they heard was not good news. Since the loss of most of the Knights of the Royal Capital, this barracks set up in the suburbs has become a garrison for the militia. Rats, fugitives, and criminals recruited by Tifeco were to be stuffed into the eastern camp before they set out on the expedition. And more than a month ago, a militia of more than 1,000 people was just sent to the western border, and now there are new personnel to replenish it?

"How many?"

"There are only two or three hundred people at the moment, and most of them seem to have come from the Northlands...... There are also some Bloodsail Rats, but there aren't many more willing to go than the first two. ”

"Monitor their movements closely, and report to me every time there are more than 200 new people in the camp. Tasa commanded.

"Yes, sir. ”

These people have only one use, and that is to use the pill as a consumable after taking it. Now that the Queen of the Blue Water is heading north, and there is no resistance in the south, Tifeco will undoubtedly continue to attack the territory of His Highness Roland, and he must send the news back to the border town as soon as possible.

"The next confidential information that the clown brought you, or rather, drunken gossip," the clown said in an exaggerated tone, "I can't verify the truth of this news, but if you listen to what the merchants say with noses and faces, let's take it as if it's true." They say that Garcia Wimbledon's Black Galleon appeared in the Kingdom of Eternal Winter and launched an attack on the Church, and that the siege of Wolfheart was broken. They are also planning to take advantage of the time before the winter to bring some scarce goods to sell. ”

The Queen of Blue Water actually went to Eternal Winter?Tasa was a little surprised, but it didn't matter if this news was true or not, she chose to go north and leave the Grey Keep, which was equivalent to giving up the right to compete for the throne, "That's all?"

"Well, I know it's a bit far from Greykeep," he stuck out his tongue, "I'll ask for more useful news next time." ”

"Ahem," Hill coughed twice, "My lord, there is a new clue to the task you entrusted me, Tifeko has built a new workshop in the inner city, and has recruited a number of clay craftsmen, and a large number of saltpeter recently purchased have been shipped there. However, the workshop is heavily guarded, and my people have no further knowledge of what the saltpeter is for. ”

"Oh?" said Tasa, "Did they really bring saltpeter into the workshop?"

"Indeed," Ciel nodded, "and I've kept an eye on a wagon carrying goods. ”

This is extremely valuable information, and after staying with His Highness Roland for a long time, he naturally knows that the indestructible gunpowder is an alchemical item, and its main ingredient is saltpeter. Ever since the saltpeter in the nitrate mills around the royal capital had been bought on a large scale, he had noticed this and arranged for Hill Fox to find out where the goods were going and what they were used for.

Now the other party's intention of transferring saltpeter from the Alchemy Association to the workshop has been very obvious - from alchemy experiments to workshop production, it means that they have mastered the formula of gunpowder. This piece of information has a higher priority than even the new soldiers in the eastern suburbs.

"Well done. Tasa approving.

......

After the secret talk, everyone left the mansion in batches.

Before leaving, Ciel suddenly asked, "My lord, can we really push Tifeko off the throne while we are doing this?"

"Of course," said the guard, smiling, "haven't you seen the letter from His Highness Roland through the rout, his throne is already shaky. ”

In the evening, back at the Trumpeter's Tavern, Tassa meets an unexpected acquaintance: Sean.

Like himself, he is also the personal guard of His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince.

Walking into the guest room on the second floor, the two exchanged pleasantries for a moment before Tasa closed the curtain and asked in a low voice, "How do you know I'm here?"

"Your Highness has given me a token to go to Lady Margaery, she knows where you are. Sean pulled out a crystal clear red gem and shook it.

"He has a new assignment?"

"It's not a task, it's a gift," Sean smiled as he walked to the window, uncovered the curtain, and whistled. Three gray-brown birds flew into the room, landed on the table and cooed at him. After feeding each bird some grains of wheat, they stopped.

It was the first time Tassa had seen such a spiritual bird, "This is ......"

"The Witch-trained Courier. Stroking the grey bird's neck, Sean explained, "Unlike carrier pigeons, they can travel between the two places autonomously, without having to be taken away and released home. All you have to do is say a specific password to the birds, and they will deliver the message to His Highness. If all goes well, you only need to wait a day for a reply from His Highness. ”

. (To be continued.) )