A simple carriage traveled bumpily along the forest path.
A dull groan of pain sounded, and the embarrassed figure holding his forehead sat up from the carriage.
Francois, who had a splitting headache, suppressed the indescribable feeling of nausea, and looked at the mottled surroundings with stiff, sore eyes.
The terrifying shadows passing around and the hoarse and strange screeching mounts turned into straight and tall birch trees and creaking wheels as their vision and consciousness became clearer.
"Hey, you. You finally woke up."
A voice sounded, and other people in the carriage cast strange looks at him.
"Where am I..."
Whenever Francois tried to remember what happened, a sharp pain like tearing would be felt in his skull.
"We are almost arriving at Breeze City." The man who spoke had a face full of vicissitudes of life, "I have been away from my hometown for more than ten years and finally came back..."
"What time is it now..."
"It's just dawn."
The canopy of trees on both sides of the road distinguishes shadows from the glimmer of dawn.
Francois closed his eyelids, secreting tears to moisten his dry eyeballs, which had a headache.
"what happened……"
"We still want to ask you." The still vicissitudes of life man spoke, "You rushed out of the woods onto the road and passed out. If you hadn't seen that your clothes didn't look like a poor man, you would have been left behind... We saved you
,How do you want to repay——"
Horrible memories suddenly exploded in his mind. Francois recalled something and muttered out of order: "Dead...all dead..."
Other passengers took a bit of schadenfreude - the simplest happiness often comes from the misfortunes of others.
Francois suddenly stopped shaking, his eyes oozed with blood and tears, his handsome face was full of ferocity, he raised his head and shouted at everyone: "I am a scavenger, go back to Breeze City quickly, the rat tide is invading the north!!!"
…
"We don't know anything, we are just civilians——"
Annan, who heard that Francois had returned, rushed to the city gate and met the scavengers taking away the civilians on the carriage.
The carriage carrying the emblem of the King of the North was blocked by scavengers, but Francois discovered him and greeted Annan.
"What happened?"
"What an unexpected surprise." The embarrassed Francois had an excited look on his face: "We found that the Ratmen were holding a feast of rotten flesh and blood near the place where you were attacked. In order to send the news out, we dispersed and retreated, but I just ran to
I saw this convoy on the roadside. I was worried that they were rat men pretending to be rats, so I found an excuse to sneak in and test it out..."
Annan handed him a handkerchief.
"Thanks……"
Francois took the handkerchief flattered and wiped the blood on his cheek. "Now that I think about it, it was too exaggerated."
The blood and tears are real, and pricking the eyelids can achieve the effect, but a scavenger shouldn't react that way.
"A feast of rotten flesh?"
It sounded so chilling that Annan was worried about Pinglin Town, which was not far from there. "Pinglin Town is close to there, so there won't be any accidents, right?"
"Please rest assured that the feast of rotten flesh and blood is just a ritual and feast for the rat people to communicate with the clan." Francois said hello to his "colleagues" of scavengers, followed Annan on the carriage, and described in detail what he met after setting off.
Everything, and it was said that traces of dragon breath were found.
Annan once thought that the wizard's robe was just picked up by the blue dragon or ghost from the place where it was attacked.
It seems like Blue Dragon is involved?
Then in order to escape the feast, Francois and the scavengers disguised themselves as rat men, participated in the feast, and ate the carrion——
The biggest problem, other than nausea and stench, is the corruption that blessed carrion brings.
Annan lamented that the baron had paid too much, and Francois smiled carelessly: "This is nothing, this is so that you can help me wash away my shame..."
"...What are you going to do next?" Annan was silent for a moment and changed the topic.
"Go to the scavenger headquarters first." Francois said, "Although I took the purification potion in advance, I still have to check it out."
"Do you need me to come with you?"
"certainly!"
Francois told Groom the location of Scavenger Headquarters, then asked: "Did your investigation at the dinner go well?"
"Nothing was found...but there is some progress." Thinking of this, Annan asked: "Do you know Earl Morgan?"
"Earl Morgan is a member of the royal family, but he died of old age a few days ago. Why do you ask about him?"
"I met his wife at the party."
Annan told Francois about his contact with the countess and his plan to investigate the attack through her.
"You said the countess wanted to paint a portrait of you?" Francois was so frightened that he lost his honorific.
"Is there any problem?" Annan was puzzled by his reaction.
"It's a big problem. It is said that Earl Morgan and his several wives would draw a portrait before getting married..."
"Are you saying that portraiture is a marriage spell?"
"That's not true, magic spells are not that cheap, but this may be a... tradition." Francois asked tentatively: "Have you painted it?"
"not yet."
Annan shook his head and said: "...my sister sent a letter using Crow Messenger, so I left the banquet early."
Francois still felt a little sorry for Annan.
The power left behind by a dead earl is incomparable to that of the King in the North, but in Breeze City, not many people are willing to provoke him.
…
The carriage driving into the park stopped in front of a wooden house.
"This is the scavenger headquarters?"
Annan asked Francois, who jumped off the carriage, and the answer was difficult to understand: "Are they working on the grass?"
Francois said mysteriously: "You will know soon."
Taking Annan to the wooden house, an old man wearing dirty linen clothes held a book and leaned against the drafty wooden house.
But Annan was blocked outside.
Francois solemnly introduced him: "The person standing in front of you is Annan Reeves, the King of the North, one of the twelve kings of the North who guarded the North and drove away the demon tide, beast tide, and rat tide.
"
The old man drooped his eyelids: "Where is the badge?"
"No."
"No entry without badge."
"It's okay, I'll wait for you here."
Annan watched curiously as Francois entered the hut and then disappeared as if swallowed by darkness.
His attention fell on the old man. Annan didn't feel anything like Augusta Olmedo's aura from him. He got a little closer and scanned the words on the book -
[Padilla nibbled on the pink grape...]
"Um……"
Annan returned to the carriage and never waited for Francois to appear.
Later, a scavenger came and told Annan that Francois was slightly corrupted and needed to be purified.
In any case, Francois's trip confirmed one thing: the attack on the King in the North was indeed related to the Skaven.
Driving back to the manor, as soon as she returned to the bedroom, the head maid handed Annan a letter.
"This letter has been brought to you by a maid who calls herself the Count's estate."
