Klaudius' hands were soaked with sweat. He began to worry that he would not be able to hold his sword firmly.

  He had never been so tense before, and he didn't even know that his palms would sweat when he was nervous.

  In the eyes of most people, Duke Mraak is a high-ranking and powerful figure, shrewd and capable, well-versed in the ways of the world, and just a very respectable politician and minister. However, he knows that even if he were to charge into battle, leading his troops from the front, the duke would not be outdone by any general in the empire. In terms of martial prowess, the duke is absolutely qualified to rank among the top five in the empire.

  The duke had just given him and his subordinates such an order - not to care about the person they really wanted to catch, but as soon as the duke himself made a move, everyone immediately concentrated on attacking the person the duke was attacking.

  He didn't ask the duke what kind of person would require such a grand setup to deal with. He absolutely trusted the duke's judgment, that was an unimaginable opponent.

  This was the first time in his life he had faced a gigantic, unknown and possibly unimaginable danger, completely beyond his calm, bright and glorious life experience since birth. So he was tense.

  Knock, knock, knock, three distinct beats on the door. The duke called out in a friendly manner: "Mr. Shandru, I'm back again."

  Clavius gripped the hilt tightly, and the hilt that was usually so attached to his palm seemed to have turned into a slippery catfish, Clavius was very afraid that it would suddenly slip out of his hand during the attack.

  The duke turned his head and looked at him, saying lightly: "Relax."

  Klause suddenly realized that his forehead was already covered in cold sweat.

  Don't be nervous. Don't be nervous. Klaus repeated to himself, demanding of himself. In front of so many subordinates, what kind of person am I? I'm the best, the strongest, the most promising, and the most capable. How can I be nervous? It's just going to catch a soldier, nothing to be nervous about. Repeating in his mind the plan that the Duke had just laid out, thinking through every step he should take, what kind of pose to use, how to speak calmly, and then suddenly attack when the opponent least expects it...

  The large wooden door creaked open with a "creak", and the person who opened it was a young man in his early twenties, with a pale complexion that lacked sunlight.

  Looking at this face, Duke Mlak was a little surprised. When the door opened and saw the situation inside, Duke Mlak was even more surprised, to the point of being shocked.

  As he gazed at the face that had kept him sleepless and anxious for two months, a face that was more captivating than his most ardent lover's, Klavius' eyes seemed to be about to spew fire.

  That was the man he had seen two months ago, the soldier who knew part of their plan, the man who was more important to his fiancée than himself a hundred times over, the inferior wretch who made him make mistake after mistake. And now this wretch dared to appear in front of him with an air of innocence, looking at them as if they were unexpected guests.

  In a rage, he drew his sword, intending to execute the ringleader who had insulted him on the spot. However, as soon as the sword was out of its scabbard, he discovered something strange: including the duke, all the others had put down their weapons and were kneeling on one knee.

  Inside the big house, a space was left empty, where a horse carriage was parked. Next to it were two clergymen and an old man.

  This is a very thin and gaunt old man, with sunken cheeks that meet at the chin to form a narrow face, making his originally small eyes seem quite suitable. Underneath his eyes are dark eye bags, looking like he hasn't rested well for a long time. The old man wears a pure white satin robe, with a golden cross embroidered on the chest, and a crown on his head also has a cross inlaid with gems. The atmosphere emitted by this attire makes even the many corpses in the room seem solemn and majestic.

  Klaudius hastily laid down his arms, dropped to one knee and made a standard blessing gesture: "May God be with you, Bishop Ronis."

  "God is with each and every one of you who believes in Him." Bishop Ronis's gaunt face broke into a small smile, indicating for everyone to rise.

  "Duke-sama, what are you doing?" Bishop Ronis asked, looking at the scattered weapons.

  The duke remained expressionless, looking at Asa and saying: "We just suspect that this young man is an escaped prisoner, so we plan to catch him back for questioning." He had already seen through the young man in front of him, if a cripple can pretend, a hunchback can pretend, then of course a face can also pretend.

  "Ah?" Bishop Ronis looked at Asa, his eyes like a pair of candles in the darkness, and asked: "Young man, I adjure you by God's name and your own honor, are you truly an escaped prisoner as he says?"

  A Sa shook his head: "No."

  Bishop Ronis nodded and smiled, then turned around to say to the Duke: "He says he isn't."

  "It is." The duke nodded. Clavius's forehead was already beaded with cold sweat.

  "I think you may have some misunderstanding or something went wrong somewhere." Bishop Ronis concluded for the duke.

  "Yes, yes, we were mistaken." The duke repeated. Beside him, Clavius's cold sweat was already flowing down his forehead.

  "Now that this misunderstanding has been cleared up, I suppose there will be no more trouble," Bishop Ronis asked.

  "It is," replied the duke, "there will be no more trouble."

  "Duke, you know that I have no interest in military and political affairs, nor do I wish to have any. The bishop spoke with a tone of nostalgia, as if chatting with an old friend. "So I also don't want the people around me to be involved. You should know, this is a place of magic academy, and the people here are also people of the magic academy."

  "Yes, Your Excellency. We will withdraw." The duke said with the politeness and dignity of a gentleman who had simply entered the wrong room.

  After dismissing the troops and leaving the great hall, Klauwens said to the Duke: "The bishop deliberately let us in, he intentionally protected that guy."

  The duke nodded, and the carriage of Bishop Ronis was deliberately brought into the house instead of stopping outside, just in case they saw the carriage and knew it wasn't good to make a move, so they temporarily retreated. Only when they were about to draw their swords could the matter be settled once and for all.

  Strictly speaking, the bishop has no real power. He can't adjust taxes or mobilize a single soldier. However, even if he had the power of His Majesty the Emperor, he wouldn't dare to fool him. Since he said he didn't want that soldier to have any more trouble, then he really couldn't have any more trouble.

  Klaatu felt like he had reached the end of his rope.

  The duke asked him: "Do you think that soldier will tell everything to Bishop-sama?"

  Klauss shook his head: "I don't know, what about you?"

  The duke also shook his head: "I don't know either, it seems like we can only ask him himself."

  "How did you ask?" Klauwens was puzzled.

  "Just ask," said the duke calmly.

  Krauss still didn't quite understand, but looking at the duke's calm and collected expression, he felt that things would probably turn out all right in the end.

  The Duke said, "From a certain perspective, there are only three kinds of people in the world. One is someone who has nothing to do with you, and you don't need to worry about or bother with them. Another kind is your enemy, and there can't be too many of those; once they appear, you must eliminate them completely." He looked at Claudius. "But what should you do if you have an enemy that you can't get rid of?"

  "With all my might, every trick in the book, I'll defeat him." Claudius said valiantly, his brow furrowed with determination. He was already thinking of how to explain things to the Archbishop afterwards.

  The duke shook his head in some disappointment: "You should try to make him the third kind of person - a friend. The more, the better. Especially those you can't deal with."

  "Friend?" Klause seemed to have heard the word for the first time.

  Just at noon that day, Bishop Ronis had just left for a while, and the lower officials of the Duke's Mansion sent a letter to Asa.

  The letter was written by the Duke himself, and the words were sincere. The general idea is that he is actually very grateful to Asa for saving his two daughters one after another. However, due to some unavoidable reasons, there have been some misunderstandings. He is now deeply sorry for the misunderstandings between them before, and there are many detailed reasons that are not convenient to explain in the letter. Tonight, the Duke will send a carriage to pick him up and apologize in person at his residence.

  Asa read the letter over and over again, but still couldn't make up his mind whether to go or not. He was afraid that as soon as he sat down, dozens of guards would suddenly rush out and chop him into minced meat, or that he would eat something or drink some water and immediately suffer from severe abdominal pain and bleeding from all seven orifices. So he asked Sandru: "Do you think it will be dangerous if I go?"

  "Danger." Shandru bent to arrange the corpses. "He'll hold a knife to your throat and force you to marry his daughter." He held out his hand. "Give me the saw."

  "If that's the case, I'll definitely introduce you to him." Asa handed over the saw. But this was also an opportunity to clear up the truth of things. What misunderstanding was it? How about the thing he reported himself? How is Xiao Yi now?

  "Let's go." Asa finally decided. He hated the feeling of having something hanging over his head. He liked a phrase often said by a dwarf old man who frequently visited his home: even if it's a load of shit, you have to swallow it, don't let it lie in front of you and bother your mind.

  "Want me to introduce you?" Shandru bent down and sawed at the leg of a corpse with great effort, making a "ka-cha ka-cha" sound.

  "Yes." Asa held up the letter against the sunlight and snapped it a few times, hoping that a hint would fall out from between the folds of paper.