When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist
Chapter 99 - 97: Who in the world isn’t short-haired?

Chapter 99: Chapter 97: Who in the world isn’t short-haired?

On the burnt wooden bridge, traces of dark red embers still lingered.

The ground was pitch black, and the ruins were scattered. The bodies of the Night Guards were arranged neatly, exuding a strong odor of decay.

A butterfly danced in the morning sunlight, fluttering around this small yet oddly charming mound of corpses.

Cléante and Belard stood before the ruins.

Their faces showed neither sorrow nor joy, revealing a serene calm that comes after a profound realization.

It was the numbness after despair, the enlightenment after numbness, and the despair upon facing reality after enlightenment.

Belard led 800 troops, Cléante commanded 500, and the drafted Armed Farmers and other militia numbered nearly 1,200, making a total of 2,500 soldiers, with thirteen checkpoints established.

Yet they still failed to stop Horn with his 1,200 heavily laden farmers.

"Have you tracked where they went?" Belard asked Cléante, his tone reflecting a rare bland friendliness.

Cléante looked up at the azure sky: "Their steps merged with those of the refugees; it’s possible they fled with the refugees or returned to the mountains."

"I see."

"Hmm."

The two fell into another lengthy silence.

"Captain Cléante, Captain Belard, there are some words left by Short Hair on the roadside wall, but we can’t understand them..." A follower approached hesitantly and said.

"Shall we take a look?" Cléante asked.

"Wodkaneesi." Belard shrugged. Seeing Cléante didn’t understand, he explained, "What else can I say in El language?"

"Lead us there; there’s nothing to lose anyway." Cléante said to the follower.

They followed the follower to the wall, where neatly rhymed knight poetry was inscribed.

Compared to the poems in "The Legend of the Rose of Rum," it was rather crude but just enough for Cléante, a rough person, and Belard, a cultured man, to appreciate both.

"Ahead, a false knight, wandering blindly.

Behind, foolish mercenaries, fearing battle like mice.

Oh, Algang, a hundred miles away from me."

After a long silence, Belard’s complexion gradually turned red, then blue, then black, then white, and finally red again.

"Ah—" Drawing his sword forward, Belard furiously slashed at the words on the wall, shouting his impotent rage.

Cléante, with thick skin, was slightly more composed, but his trembling hand still exposed his inner thoughts.

"If I don’t vent this anger, I, I cough cough cough, huh cough cough—uh—" Belard suddenly raised his hands and fell straight to the ground.

He struggled to stand up, but his sleeve was pinned by a hoof, and he finally lost his breath, fainting.

"Master Belard? Call the physician, quick."

......

High Castle City, High Castle Cathedral.

In the splendid hall, gentle noon sunlight fell on the walnut-carved long table. Near the table legs, one could still see winged infant angel carvings.

"According to our investigation, it’s highly likely that the Short Hairs went to Black Bone Marsh, and they recruited seventy or eight able-bodied men from among the refugees."

Algang sat at a corner of the table, his white hair making his speech unclear.

"This matter is indeed somewhat my fault." Prince Kongdai crossed his arms over his chest and admitted frankly, "I really didn’t expect there to be an undercover Short Hair in the White Maple Mercenary Corps; I should have sent more different mercenary corps."

Besides a ten-year contracted infantry mercenary corps, Prince Kongdai had temporarily recruited elite infantry like Jiduoduo’s Death Squad and Griffin’s Eagle Squad nearby.

It’s not that he didn’t want to maintain regular infantry, but he didn’t have the money.

Maintaining nine decreed battalions was enough to leave him financially stretched, and sometimes he even had to sell his own estate to keep funds circulating.

Prince Kongdai also owed several tens of thousands of gold pounds to the old King, the Pope, El Liberty Bank, and several Great Monarchs of Norn.

So, what attracted these mercenary corps besides his reputation was his excellent booty distribution policy.

Just as Horn and his group scrambled through the High Platform Mountains, a major incident occurred in Xiaochi City.

Local citizens tossed the bishops into the cellar and locked the cellar door, known as the "Throw Into Cellar" incident.

After the Throw Into Cellar incident, the citizens seized control of the city.

Since Xiaochi City was relatively wealthy, local and nearby nobles and priests offered a high price, inviting mercenaries to reclaim the city.

Consequently, both Prince Kongdai’s decreed battalion and mercenaries went to besiege Xiaochi City.

The citizens of Xiaochi City immediately received support from local monks like Juanuo and others.

They raised funds to hire several mercenary groups and sent envoys to Norn, inviting foreign forces to join in the grand event.

The one facilitating this was Duchess Hemashi Moliat, but Moliat holds a special status. She carries the royal bloodlines of Falan, Leia, and the former selection of Norn.

Moreover, her grandfather voluntarily gave up the throne of Falan, passing the title and throne to the father of the current King of Falan, averting a near civil war in the Falan Kingdom.

Touch her, and beware of shocking Falan’s allies.

As long as she doesn’t openly act, Prince Kongdai has no good solution against her and can only linger outside Xiaochi City.

Aside from Xiaochi City, Prince Kongdai has to issue some commands towards the south to guard against the Secret Faction from Black Snake Bay attempting to enter Thousand River Valley to join the fray.

If Prince Kongdai does not preside, the Thousand River Valley is likely to be thrown into chaos.

The reputation of Horn and his group is sufficient, but the spoils are lacking, making them less attractive, so the Prince forcibly orders the White Maple Mercenary Corps, the top mercenary group, to suppress them.

The White Maple Mercenary Corps dispatched nearly half of their forces, but due to Belard’s autocracy and Cléante’s hindrance, they couldn’t engage Horn and the others throughout.

In the only engagement, with nearly five times the troops, Horn almost let them slip away.

You could only say it was bad luck.

"I also have faults. I assumed the two commanders could cooperate wholeheartedly and let them jointly command, but who knew, who knew indeed." Algang swayed his head.

"Alas, I’m getting on in years, confused, being embarrassed doesn’t matter, but these two commanders are quite fiery, they still want to continue pursuing."

Upon hearing Algang’s words, Bishop Banifus quickly expressed, "If I had known, I shouldn’t have let Cléante go. That old rogue, repeatedly defeated yet fighting again, aside from unwavering loyalty, no short-haired plants as moles, I really don’t know his purpose?"

Upon hearing Banifus’s words, Algang seemed to twitch in his sleep, raised his head, and stared at Banifus’s face.

"I have received a piece of news." Algang, who was dozing off earlier, suddenly perked up, "Bishop Banifus, do you have a priest named Boned under your command?"

"Yes." As he answered, Banifus lamented, "He’s an absolutely good lad, my student, my companion, my brother, a brother like a son.

The whole High Castle knows our relationship, under my influence he was too upright, and due to his unwillingness to yield, he was brutally murdered by the shorthairs."

"Oh, just hold on."

Algang showed a smile, crossing his arms in salutation, said to Prince Kongdai, "The shorthairs attempted to drown a monk, but due to the rope being loose, the monk miraculously survived.

He informed me of an important piece of information; the shorthairs could repeatedly deceive the checkpoints because someone assisted them in forging the Church’s documents

Our monk saw his appearance and remembered how he looked.

Based on the comparison of present personnel, we have ample evidence to prove... that person is the priest named Boned."

"Puh... cough cough cough." Banifus, who was leisurely sipping water, suddenly sputtered it all over the table.

The nearby attendant immediately came up, attempting to wipe the tabletop, but was pushed aside by Banifus after barely two wipes.

"What do you mean? Are you suggesting I’m a shorthair too?" Banifus’s eyes flashed with malignant venom.

Algang said nothing, merely pushing a two-finger thick document from the wooden-grain table to him.

Picking up the dossier, Banifus suspiciously opened it and began flicking through the evidence.

But soon, he flipped faster and faster, until finally, he furiously closed the document.

Clearing his throat, Banifus pulled out a reluctant smile, "I declare, I have no relation to this Boned."

"Weren’t you just saying you and Boned are brothers like father and son?"

"Everyone’s like brothers and sons to me. Miseria taught us to love others as oneself, believers are all brothers and sisters." Banifus retorted stubbornly.

"Wasn’t he under your influence?"

"Don’t slander me, he’s slandering me, His Highness the Prince, he’s slandering me!"

"Alright, alright." Prince Kongdai suppressed their dispute, "Let’s each take a step back, both of us have faults here."

Under Banifus’s venomous gaze, Algang sat leisurely, only to fall back asleep after just two seconds.

Having navigated the Church for so many years, with his skilled tactics of muddying waters and stirring chaos.

Thinking of shifting blame? You, Banifus, a young one born in 1401, think you can play this game with me, still too young and naïve.

"Since it’s like this, how shall we announce it externally? You know, there are rumors everywhere, everyone is hard-pressed." Banifus pondered before asking again.

Algang coughed once, "Since the shorthairs have so many moles, it isn’t our incompetency, but rather that the shorthairs have cultivated the Thousand River Valley land for years, understanding the minds of the Thousand River Valley People, set up a new cult matrix, achieving the Secret Faction’s breakthrough.

Just say, we’ve found the shorthairs number over a hundred thousand, and have moles and sympathizers in every industry and field. It’s with their help the shorthairs could escape successfully."

"Then the shorthairs... are we leaving them unchecked?"

After pondering for a moment, Prince Kongdai pulled out a piece of paper and began drafting a new order.

"I’ll draw an order company from Xiaochi City to continue pursuit, of course, if they seek death by going to Wildspider Forest, that’s another matter."