Work Prophet
Chapter 602 - 34 Bad News

Chapter 602: Chapter 34 Bad News

"What, the Marquis has already passed away?!"

Upon hearing this terrible news, the Lady was also stunned; she even doubted if there was something wrong with her ears.

Although she had experienced David’s collusion with those from the Wing Tribe, the murder of her father Ruse, and the release of the Black Dragon that wreaked havoc in the west, the Lady still held great respect for Marquis Kuren, the Family Head of the Figrola family.

The latter had acted impartially, imprisoning his most valued eldest son and the future heir to his family, and, a year later, announced several of David’s crimes during the trial, sentencing him to two hundred years in prison.

He also compensated the families of Arias and others who had suffered losses due to David and that Black Dragon.

This approach won him praise from many nobles in the west.

In fact, during the over eighty years that Marquis Kuren ruled the west, most of the trials and mediations he was involved in were very fair.

Initially, the competition between Ireya and her brother Blanco for the position of Family Head was decided by Marquis Kuren’s suggestion to hold a vote.

Peace had persisted for quite some time in the west until Hirodod defected from the Silver Moon Church and subsequently established the Blood Moon Association.

Although there were occasional conflicts among the lords, they all maintained restraint.

All of this was inseparable from the achievements of Marquis Kuren, and the Figrola family had guarded the west for the Empire for over nine hundred years.

Marquis Kuren was like the mainstay of everyone, and now someone was telling the Lady that this mainstay was gone.

Miss Rabbit felt like she was dreaming.

However, the Ying Song standing in front of her, along with several other nobles of no simple stature, and the guards responsible for protecting Marquis Kuren, all confirmed that this was not a joke.

Especially since the latter few had just come out of the valley and looked very weak, with some so hungry they could no longer walk and needed support from others nearby; you could even see the veins under their skin.

However, when the bread arrived, they barely ate a few bites before they first returned with Ying Song to see the Lady.

"But... all of you are fine, so why would the Marquis have passed away?"

Ireya took some time to stabilize her mind before she continued to ask.

"Because a traitor appeared among us," the Family Head of the Treles Family, Kamzi, gritted his teeth, "and there wasn’t just one."

"The Family Head of the Vier family, the master of Acorn Castle, Hugo, first betrayed us; he fought with Fabrice, who mocked him, saying he was just a little boy who could only suckle in a woman’s arms.

"To prove his bravery, he led people into the valley, saying he would chop off a thousand wild men’s heads before returning.

"The Marquis was worried about his safety; although his father had committed suicide, it was also because of David. The Marquis wanted to protect this only son of his, but who knew the young bastard had secretly sided with those Dwarves.

"He led us into this deadly trap, then slipped away himself, and we’ve been trapped here for over ten days, with our food all gone.

"And just two nights ago, Ilkand also led the people of the Immanuel family in a mutiny.

"The Marquis was poisoned by him, and even had his head cut off. Later, Sir Judith wanted to avenge the Marquis; he was also cruelly killed by him, Ilkand stabbed his stomach with a spear, his intestines spilled all over the ground, and he wailed for a long time before dying.

"Then Ilkand shot Jeluo’s left eye in the chaos, and Jeluo was done for," Kamzi spat bitterly on the ground.

He had also led people to pursue Ilkand and tangled with him for a while, but ended up getting knocked out by a horseshoe to the chest.

Because the incident happened so suddenly, a large group of people couldn’t stop Ilkand, that despicable traitor, the King Slayer. He escaped with about thirty or forty of his followers and took refuge with the dwarves in the mountains.

Upon hearing Jeluo’s name, the Lady couldn’t help but look towards Ying Song, who had come to save his son, only to find that he was two days too late and now permanently separated from him.

At this moment, although Ying Song remained silent, the girl could feel the endless fury harbored in his heart, and the old man’s knuckles turned white as he gripped his sword.

The betrayal by Hugo and Ilkand also shocked the Lady.

She had met both of them: Hugo was rather timid, lacking strong opinions and easily swayed by others, while Ilkand was hot-tempered.

Miss Rabbit still remembered her first encounter with Ilkand in Black Stone City, when he had acted somewhat recklessly. Generally, such people shouldn’t have much cunning.

Moreover, the Lady later heard that he had won the favor of Diodosi. Diodosi had been injured by the Black Dragon and wasn’t in good health, having not appeared much in public for a long time.

Compared to his eldest and second sons, he seemed to favor Ilkand more, as there had been increasing calls within the Immanuel Family for Ilkand to become the next Family Head.

It was hard to imagine that such a young man with a bright future would choose such an irreversible path.

Because this news was so shocking, the Lady had to gather her thoughts before she could continue.

"Ilkand, in order to survive, murdered the Marquis and took his head to seek refuge with the dwarves in the mountains. Is he still with those dwarves?"

"I don’t know."

"How many dwarves are there?"

"We don’t know either," replied Fabrice from the Pope Family.

"The Marquis organized us for four sorties, but the dwarves had the high ground. With just their rolling stones, they inflicted heavy losses on us. Once, I managed to reach halfway up the mountain.

"But we soon encountered a group of dwarf warriors; there were about four to five hundred of them, while less than a hundred of us were left.

"We couldn’t hold out for long and had to retreat. One of the dwarves even broke my arm," Fabrice continued, shaking his tightly bandaged left arm.

He paused, then added, "I think their numbers are at least not fewer than ours."

"Tens of thousands of troops?" The Lady looked solemn.

"But this morning, they pulled back the forces that were blocking us at the mouth of the valley," said Kamzi.

"It felt like there were fewer people on the mountain too. We weren’t sure what they were up to, worried that it might be a trap. After some discussion, we decided not to come out immediately."

Miss Rabbit thought about it and could not figure out what the dwarves were plotting, but even if they had laid more ambushes, by dawn tomorrow, it would likely not escape the eyes of the Three-eyed Divine Bird.