"It's Pitzman..."

"Your Majesty Reitz, we found no trace of Pitzman in the palace. He seems to have escaped..."

Marshal Teodoro's words were like a sudden bomb that suddenly exploded in Rez's ears.

The original complacency and certainty of victory disappeared without a trace in an instant.

"What did you say?!"

Rez felt that his head was a little confused, so that his whole body was stunned on the horse's back.

Marshal Teodoro grimaced and repeated:

"Pitzman, he seems to have... escaped... We searched the entire Norman Palace and found no trace of him..."

"Look! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, you have to find him for me!!"

Rez said in a deep voice.

After all the hard work and heavy losses, I finally managed to break into the city. If Pitzman still managed to escape... the consequences would be simply unimaginable!

Because Pitzman has the blood of the Alexander family after all, if he wins over nobles in other parts of the empire and establishes another political power, then the entire empire will be unrest!

This will only make Rez's army exhausted, and the entire empire will hardly have a chance to recuperate.

Teodoro naturally knew the consequences of Pitzman's escape. Seeing this, he looked solemn and quickly replied:

"yes!"

…

After the war in St. Lawrence, the city was full of ruins.

The area around the Norman Palace was slightly better, but the civilian residential area located on the edge of the city wall was undoubtedly the most chaotic place in the entire city.

For the soldiers who had just experienced a life and death test, it was finally time to divide the loot and plunder.

They began to go through civilians' homes and wreak havoc. Although they did not massacre the city, they broke into the homes unscrupulously and took away all the previous belongings in the civilians' homes.

after all……

This is the reward given to them by Rez.

Without the temptation of huge sums of money, who would risk their lives to die for the nobles?

Although the soldiers under Reitz have experienced countless battles, they are not as strict in military discipline as the Idar people. In addition, Reitz ordered a full search for Pitzman, so...for two full days,

The civilians of St. Lawrence suffered.

You know, when it was time to defend the city, Pitzman sent countless young civilians to the battlefield.

Therefore, at this moment, the victorious siege army naturally showed no restraint at all. There was already anger in their hearts. If any civilians dared to stop them, then what awaited them would only be sharp blades and butcher knives.

Two days.

Reitz's plundering time was two days. Only after tomorrow has passed will the reconstruction of St. Lawrence begin, and the civilians living in this city will survive this disaster.

However……

In this vast city, not all corners are filled with looting and chaos.

The three areas around the Norman Royal Palace, Alfaro Street lined with towers of mages, and the Wilson Cathedral in the north of St. Lawrence may be the only areas in the entire city that maintain peace and stability.

The soldiers naturally did not dare to provoke those powerful mages who could cast spells. As the only important stronghold of the Church of Light in the imperial capital of Saint Lawrence, the Wilson Cathedral was naturally protected by the Crusaders and was safe.

The night is long, the moon and stars are sparse.

As night falls, the high-hanging crescent moon casts a faint light in the night, and almost the entire outline of St. Lawrence has been shrouded in the dark night sky.

There are not as bright lights here as in the Principality of Idar. The few lights come from the surroundings of the Norman Palace, the outer city walls and the soldiers on duty patrolling the streets holding torches high.

In the Wilson Cathedral in the north of St. Lawrence, Bishop Fleming held a bright candlestick and opened the door of the underground darkroom in the flickering candlelight.

"Your Majesty Pitzman..." he greeted softly.

This darkroom is very large and extremely spacious inside. It has a main hall for receiving guests, a study, a bedroom, a dining room, and even a small room for the attendants to live in.

Pitzman escaped from the palace with not many people, only four or five loyal personal attendants in total, so it didn't feel crowded at all.

When Bishop Fleming pushed in the door, Pitzman was sitting in the spacious main hall in a daze.

On normal days, he would naturally not have such a leisurely mind.

But... now that St. Lawrence has been breached by Reitz, and he has been brought to this dark room by Bishop Fleming, he has nothing to do. Therefore, he has time to carefully recall everything he has experienced in the past, and he has gained some rare benefits.

leisure.

Seeing Bishop Fleming pushing through the door, Pitzman couldn't help but frown slightly.

When Bishop Fleming led him to escape from the secret passage, Pitzman had no time to think carefully about why there were secret passages connecting the church and the palace. He was just focused on whether he could regain control with the support of the Crusaders.

throne.

But when he finally came to the underground chamber of Wilson Cathedral, he had time to sort out everything that had happened before.

And this thought,

Naturally, my mind was filled with doubts.

The Church of Light has never interfered in secular affairs, and it has no concern for events such as the replacement of the throne.

after all……

Between the Norman royal family and the Church of Light, one is divine power and the other is monarchical power. It can be said that they have nothing to do with each other.

But now, not only had Pitzman heard the rumors that the church and the Odin Empire were colluding with each other a few days ago, Bishop Fleming of St. Lawrence Parish also directly connected himself to the church.

The nobles who had supported him in the past had all defected, but the Church of Light, which had previously been at odds with him, took the initiative to stand up.

Although Pitzman is not very smart, at least he is not a fool.

so……

Anyway, he didn’t believe what the church told him.

"When I wanted to go out just now, why did the Crusaders outside the door stop me?!"

Pitzman said somewhat displeasedly.

Although Bishop Fleming had always been very respectful to him, to be honest, Pitzman could not see any respect for the Norman royal family from those Crusader soldiers.

Upon hearing this, Bishop Fleming couldn't help but smile and replied softly:

"This is all for the sake of His Majesty's safety. Rez is a traitor who killed the king and his father. If he ignores the status of the Church of Light and sends troops to break into the church without authorization, how can he protect His Majesty's safety?"

"You said before that the Church of Light would help me regain the throne, right?"

"That's natural. As long as your majesty can do as we say, I hope it will be easy for you to regain the throne." Bishop Fleming said with confidence.

"According to...what you said?" Pitzman asked coldly.

Hearing this, Bishop Fleming nodded.

"We will arrange for you to sneak out of the city as a Crusader soldier. After you leave the city, you will first go to the Holy City to see His Majesty the Pope. When the time comes, His Majesty the Pope will naturally give you some advice."

"Meet in person?!"

Pitzman stood up suddenly and glared at the bishop in front of him.

As a member of the royal family of the Norman Empire and the emperor of the Norman Empire, Pitzman knew very well what it meant to "visit" a so-called theocratic leader.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. I just came here to inform you. I hope we can cooperate closely in the future."

Seeing Pitzman's angry eyes, Bishop Fleming knew that there was no possibility of continuing the conversation, so he simply turned around and walked out of the darkroom, leaving only Pitzman and a few attendants furious in the darkroom.

"Take good care of him, don't make any mistakes, let alone miss the Pope's grand plan!"

After walking out of the door and giving instructions to the Crusader soldiers on both sides, Bishop Fleming regained his smile and walked towards the stairs leading to the ground.

"clear."

…

Western Empire.

A group of noble chariots and horses with a large entourage had just crossed the Chishui River on the border between the Stuan Basin and the Carter Plateau, and were heading towards the nearby Carter Plateau on the muddy dirt road.

Looking at it, Mr. Lin's entourage totaled one to two hundred people. If it weren't for a noble family, they would never be able to support such a large convoy.

Moreover, in addition to the large number of attendants, there were even fifty or sixty fully armed elite knights at the front and rear of the motorcade.

Although the armor they wear is completely different from the standard armor of the imperial army, it is superior to the standard armor in terms of workmanship and defensive capabilities.

The knights leading the way in front of the convoy held colorful flags with different patterns and emblems painted on them, fluttering in the cold wind of early winter.

Among these many flags, the most eye-catching is naturally the cheetah emblem of the Carter family.

That's right,

This is Carter Duke Fabian Asimov's motorcade.

Just a few days ago, he had just personally met with another great duke in the western part of the empire, Duke Mankiw Blood of Loon, in the Stuan Basin.

Although the road was a little bumpy, Duke Carter didn't feel too uncomfortable.
To be continued...