Chapter 010: Who Did I Offend?

Standing there in the rain with a gloomy expression for about half an hour, they finally saw a large group rushing over. One of them quickly ran up to Joshua and whispered a few words in his ear.
Joshua’s expression changed, and he said to Du Fan, “While we were attacked just now, our allies over there also suffered an attack. Moreover, since they had no skilled fighters to back them up, their losses were even more severe!”
Du Fan wiped the rain from his face and asked, “So what do we do now?”
Joshua sighed and said, “What else can we do? Let’s find a place to take shelter from the rain for now!”
At this point, they didn’t dare go too far and could only send people to ask local households for shelter. However, after searching the surroundings for a while, the cavalry returned empty-handed—those houses were mostly empty, with not a single soul in sight!
Du Fan and Joshua exchanged a glance, both looking even more worried.
But with no other choice, they entered one of the relatively spacious houses to take shelter. As for the Templar knights and the cavalry of the Northern Legion, they absolutely couldn’t be separated this time!
The Templar knights surrounded the house, and the room was thoroughly searched to prevent any assassins from hiding in corners. Du Fan’s carriages were also guarded just in case.
Although Du Fan wasn’t injured, the night had been extremely dangerous.
After a fire was lit inside the house and he sat down on a chair, he began to feel fear creeping in. Throughout his life, though it wasn’t his first time facing such life-or-death situations, it was indeed the first time he encountered such a crisis unprepared.
Recalling what had happened earlier, it was truly heart-stopping. Even Du Fan couldn’t help but turn pale.
Hmph! What ruthless tactics!
It seemed not only the inn owner but also those servants were actually assassins in disguise. To dispel his suspicions, they even fabricated the guise of mercenaries—what deep scheming!
Those who were plotting against him not only knew him very well but also planned everything meticulously, with every move already arranged. If this was supposed to be a coincidence, he would never believe it!
But the question was: who would attack him at a time like this?

Although I’ve done so many things in the northern lands, in reality, I’ve always relied on others’ strength. In terms of status, I’m merely a scion of a noble family, a white-robed priest of the Holy Church! This status isn’t high nor low, but it certainly isn’t worth such elaborate efforts to deal with me!
Even though I killed Ordas, there’s already the charge of blasphemy involved. The Berlinger family might hate me to the point of wanting to skin me alive, but at this critical moment, they won’t act rashly, because if they do, everyone will know it was them!
But perhaps precisely because of this, they might just act… After all, since everyone knows they won’t act for the greater good, why can’t they do the opposite? Killing me would at most require some political concessions, and that should suffice to resolve the issue…
But the question is: does the Berlinger family still have the courage to do such a thing now?
Or could it be the Roland Academy?
But the Gavin Empire has always been under the control of the Holy Church. The people of the Roland Academy were just killed by me in large numbers—do they have the ability to mobilize so many people so quickly?
Or perhaps the Holy Church itself? Lord Anthony is not only extremely dissatisfied with my actions but also knows that I caused the deaths of so many Templar knights, so he can’t help but take action against me?
But that doesn’t make sense either. Logically, even if Lord Anthony knew about these things, if he wanted to take action against me, he could wait until I returned to the capital and set up a trap for me—wouldn’t that be easier? Accusing me of heresy would ensure no one dares to stand up for me!
Even considering my reputation in the capital, at most they might use an excuse like “dying of a serious illness.” After all, that’s not difficult to arrange, and there’s no need for them to sacrifice so many Templar knights for me!
If neither of these is the case, then whom have I offended to deserve such meticulous efforts to get rid of me?
Du Fan couldn’t figure it out, but fear surged in his heart. If it weren’t for good luck this time, my life would really have been lost here!
So many dangerous moments have passed, and if I end up dying in some back alley, I might as well just hit my head against a wall and die.

By this point, the situation had largely stabilized. Of course, Joshua wouldn’t just sit idly by. Aside from the cavalry stationed to defend the area, most of the remaining cavalry went around the town searching for clues to figure out who was behind this.

But soon, the cavalry reported that despite turning the entire town upside down, they hadn’t found a single living person. Instead, they discovered hundreds of corpses in a grain warehouse—old and young, men and women—all appearing to have been dead for three or four days!

If their guesses were correct, those were the original townspeople, while those seen today were undoubtedly impersonators sent by the killers!

Du Fan and Joshua felt a chill run down their spines. Joshua was originally a Templar Knight, who placed the highest value on chivalry—something he would never do. As for Du Fan, though he considered himself ruthless, his methods paled in comparison to those of the killers, almost like a child playing with mud!

To wipe out an entire town just to kill one person—such cunning, such boldness, such cruelty! It was utterly terrifying!

Du Fan sighed inwardly. Those townspeople had died innocently, which was pitiful. There was nothing he could do to compensate them at the moment; he could only send people to burn their bodies.

Just then, several Templar Knights brought up the bodies of the killers. Aside from those already burned in the inn, there were still many left.

Most of these corpses had thick calluses on their palms, indicating they must have been skilled swordsmen. Yet today, they all died here!

After all, both the cavalry of the Northern Legion and the knights of the Templar Order were highly skilled, especially the Templars, most of whom were at least third-level. Despite being unprepared, they managed to inflict heavy losses on both forces, showing just how terrifying these assassins were!

However, after thorough inspection, no other useful clues were found. Not even the weapons bore any markings, clearly indicating they had been prepared in advance.

Still, a cavalry commander from the Northern Legion raised some doubts. Leaving aside the long swords of the killers, there seemed to be issues with a few military crossbows they found.

These crossbows were extremely lightweight yet highly lethal, even better than those commonly used by the Northern Legion. Most importantly, they knew how to use black powder!

You should know that both these military crossbows and those black flames are things ordinary people on the continent cannot see. Even among mercenaries, only those at the leader level might manage to obtain one for self-protection. As for those black flames, they are even rarer… Ordinary people have never even heard of them, let alone used them.

“Just…” The cavalry officer looked puzzled as he spoke.

Du Fan frowned and asked, “Just what?”

After hesitating for a moment, the cavalry officer whispered, “It’s just that even the four major imperial legions aren’t qualified to be equipped with these military crossbows. Throughout the entire empire, only the Imperial Palace Guard might have access to them… As for those black flames, they are strictly controlled by the empire. Although the four legions have some, every use of them must be meticulously recorded…”

Du Fan smiled faintly and said, “So what you’re saying is… the person who tried to assassinate me this time is from the royal family?”

The cavalry officer broke into a cold sweat immediately. He knelt down abruptly and said, “Your servant… Your servant didn’t mean that. I was just offering an opinion… Besides, the steel seals on those crossbows have been worn off, so it’s impossible to confirm their origin. So… so…”

Du Fan said expressionlessly, “Even if those steel seals were still there, they wouldn’t mean much… But since only the royal family can have them…”

At this point, Du Fan couldn’t continue speaking. The words that followed simply couldn’t be uttered under any circumstances. No matter what he said, it would be considered high treason in the Gavin Empire!

Thinking of this, Du Fan couldn’t help but glance at Joshua, whose expression was equally grim. He asked, “Lord Joshua… What do you think of this?”

Joshua tapped his forehead and sighed softly after a moment. “In the end, it’s all speculation… Without any evidence, I dare not draw any conclusions lightly. But at least one thing is certain: the person who attacked us must be of extremely high status!”

Hearing the word “us,” Du Fan felt relieved. He had initially suspected it might be someone from the Holy Church, but since Joshua had already started treating him as one of their own, given his status, he would likely become a prominent figure within the Holy Church in the short term… This incident today wasn’t entirely pointless after all. At least, indirectly, he could now guess somewhat about the Holy Church’s attitude toward him…