Chapter 196: The Female Marshal of the Kingdom
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The attitude of the old man in front of him was kind. He did not have too much grandeur as a man of such a high-order position. While he spoke, the woman clad in armour turned and looked at them curiously. Hao Ren found that she was a much younger woman than he had expected. She looked around 25 years old, had fair skin, and looked very beautiful. However, there was a suttle heroic spirit in her face, which hinted that she was experienced on the battlefield, not just a beautiful woman with no actual strength.
Becky was a little nervous when she saw the bishop. She hurriedly folded her hands in front of her chest as a special gesture and then, took a deep bow. She said with a stiff tone, "Your Excellency, I am Becky, I am a second-class mercenary from Lamberg Town, the— Yes, we have important intelligence!"
"Don't be nervous, I've heard it." The bishop waved his hand to signal that Becky did not have to be overly courteous. He looked curiously at the people behind Becky. He found that these people neither saluted him nor expressed any tension. There was however, a subtle sense of alienation. He could not help but look at them again, but he said nothing about it. He just turned to Becky and went straight to the point, "All of you have just descended from the mountains? And, you know something about the rock monsters?"
Becky nodded hurriedly and replied, "Yes... We do. We saw them split from a peak on the southern side of the mountain trail!"
"Split from the peak?" The old man's eyebrows fluttered, a surprised glow flashed through his muddy eyes. "How? Please tell me the details."
Alhough Becky was usually careless and fearless, she was a civilian after all, who had a deep-rooted fear of the Disciples of Glory. For the first time in her life she met the bishop, such a big shot. She hurriedly told him everything they saw in the mountain, and also mentioned the battle in the east of the mountains.
"The three of you settled the rock monsters? You seem to have actual strength." The old man looked at Hao Ren and the people beside him, who did not even have weapons or armour with surprise. He did not feel much of a warrior's vigor from them, which surprised him and he asked, "Are you also a mercenary group?"
Lily jumped up on the spot and said, "Dogs Have Gotten All the Good Names…"
Hao Ren tried to stop the girl immediately, but he did not make it. Lily acted too quickly.
The old bishop heaved a long sigh and said, "The mercenaries now...are getting more and more outrageous. When I was young, there were names like Silver Hand, Silver Fist, and Silver Eye. Now, the names are getting weird. Young people these days really don't take the names seriously."
Hao Ren muttered, "All the good names are taken. Why don't you tell us that the last mercenary group in the silver series is called Silver Knee?"
"We saw the situation outside the town earlier." Vivian did not want to dwell on the topic and took the initiative to divert attention. "Has there been an attack here? What's the status?"
"Two attacks, the Knights had some casualties, but after finding the giants' weakness, they defeated them." The old man did not conceal the situation and roughly explained what had happened that afternoon. Hao Ren then knew that after the rock monsters split from the cliff, they immediately attacked the small town at the foot of the hill. Two consecutive attacks.
The first attack took place three hours ago, about an hour or so after the loud bang came from the mountain. More than 10 rock monsters rushed out of the mountain path. Most of the casualties among the Knights occurred during the first attack. The powerful combat ability of those monsters was still not the toughest part. The toughest part was that they could regenerate whenever they touched the ground. No one knew this at first, and there was no one as powerful as Y'zaks who could take time to figure out the weaknesses of the opponent while fighting. So, the Knights went through a tough fight, but eventually, they fought off the rock monsters after a certain amount of casualties.
The second attack took place one hour ago, just before Hao Ren and the rest of them arrived in the town. Again, more than 10 rock monsters rushed out of the mountain path, but they were prepared, the attack was easily disrupted.
"It was very sudden. Those monsters almost rushed into the town," said the bishop in a low tone. "Fortunately, this is the last stop before the Holy Land. There are many Knights stationed all year round so, nothing serious happened."
"Based on the time, after the rock monsters split from the cliff, they should be heading straight for the town." The young woman, who spoke to the bishop just now had remained silent for quite some time. At that moment, she spoke. Her voice was steady and magnetic. "Your Excellency, what do you think of this matter?"
The bishop bowed his head, pondered for a moment, and began to speak slowly, "Dragonspine Ridge is a sacrilege built by the arrogant ancient mage-emperors. Every stone in that mountain is a challenge to the authority of the goddes. All the unusual phenomena that has occurred should be attributed to evil motive, and the rock monsters that split from the mountains are undoubtedly full of evil. I think their goal should not be this checkpoint, but... Beinz, the Holy Lake."
"I think so," The woman nodded. "The disappearance of the Orb of the Holy Synod, the unusual changes in the Holy Lake, and the emergence of monsters in Dragonspine Ridge. These monsters are now trying to attack the Holy Lake. This series of events is an obvious and planned provocation."
The bishop was silent. He did not like "attack" and "provocation", two words of obvious directivity, but the facts in front of him made it difficult to make a strong retort. Finally, he could only nod and say, "Perhaps, those evil souls in the ancient times have not yet given up. They are preparing some—"
The armoured woman slowly said, "Eloken has declared war on the goddess, Your Excellency."
"It's too early to think it's a holy war," the bishop insisted. "The goddess's authority is not so easily provoked."
"But, the ancient mage-emperors did succeed once—we have to respond to it before they provoke us the second time. Otherwise, we can't be sure if the goddess will not be angry for a second time."
This time, the bishop was silent for a longer time. Alas, he could only wave his hand and say, "...Your Excellency, please keep in mind that certain things are taboo and not to be mentioned frequently near the Holy Lake. Even if there is no Orb of the Holy Synod, the goddess will also know what is happening in this world. Well, I'll consider opening the Holy Sepulcher, but at least not until another three months. I hope I can explain this to His Majesty."
"A wise move," the woman said and nodded, and then suddenly, she remembered that there were others in the room. She smiled at them apologetically and said, "Sorry, we're busy debating and ignoring you."
Hao Ren was still in a daze. Becky was surprised and suddenly jumped up, "Wait—Wait a minute! Your Excellency, Ophra?! You, you—you..."
With her hands on her chest, Ophra seemed to find Becky's response interesting and said, "I'm Ophra, the Kingdom Marshal. What's wrong?"
Becky thought for a moment, then slapped herself and fainted.
Nangong Wuyue was nearest to Becky. She quickly supported the mercenary with her hands. Becky slowly opened her eyes and saw the heroic, legendary heroine still standing in front of her, so she was going to faint again. Luckily, this time before she fainted, Nangong Wuyue smashed a ball of water and ice into her face.
"Is it that surprising? I've seen a lot of interesting guys, but this is my first time seeing such an intense reaction," she spoke and smiled cheerfully.
"I am—I adore you!" Becky jumped up and wanted to pounce on her. However, she stopped halfway and then, stood to attention in a weird posture. After that, she began to bow and salute. "Lord Marshal—Uh, no, sir—Uh, no, Your Excellency."
"Come on, I'm not royalty, and I'm not a duchess." Ophra smiled. She waved her hand and stood aside. It seemed that the way Becky addressed her made her feel awkward. "I heard your name, Becky, right? You have made a great contribution this time, you are a good mercenary."
At this time, Hao Ren really could not help asking. He came to Becky and whispered behind her, "Who is this?"
"How can you not even know her?" Becky stared at Hao Ren like he was a monster, and then remembered that he was a "wizard from the Northern Empire", but she still found it a bit inconceivable. "People from the Empire of Hognar should also know Ophra, the Grand Marshal. She is one of the three heads of the kingdom, the famous heroine in the whole continent! You are too ignorant."
"It's not that dramatic." She smiled, and now looked approachable. The aggressive look of arguing with the bishop was totally gone. "I just happened to have experienced a lot of things."
Then, she turned to the bishop and said, "Your Excellency, I'll go first. I'll let my knights take charge of the night defense, and tomorrow, we'll discuss in detail what to do with the monsters that are coming out of the mountains. If the information from these mercenaries is accurate, we have to face more than 20 rock monsters."