Chapter 361: Secret Meeting
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The moon hung in the trees. Tonight was quite different than usual in Moramatch. It was super quiet, especially the mercenaries near Anfey’s room. They dared not talk. They even tiptoed in case they made any noise as they walked.
In fact, Anfey and Suzanna had a lot in common in their personality. Neither of them were good at expressing themselves. After they got the secret order from Yolanthe, they did not have any good communication until they had to say goodbye to each other, even though everybody tried to give them some time alone. If this happened to a couple who had experience ups and downs, they probably would have cried. Suzanna was a tough girl. She never used tears to show her sorrow or attachment. She chose to be quiet. Anfey was even tougher than Suzanna. Sometimes, it was not a good thing to be too tough, because they could not vent their emotions. It would cause trouble for them sooner or later. Luckily, Anfey and Suzanna could take more than regular people. Suzanna had cruel training when she was little, while Anfey was an assassin who used to work on his own and learned to live with loneliness. Being apart was not bad enough to cause them to lose their manner in front of others.
Upon parting, Anfey forced a word out: “Come back soon.” Suzanna said quietly, “Take good care of yourself.”
This conversation was neither passionate nor romantic, no matter how one looked at it. The conversation did not show their deep relationship, nor their unwillingness to part. However, mercenaries had noticed the difference in Anfey. After watching Suzanna disappear from sight, Anfey started to look gloomy. The anger showed between his eyebrows. He turned around and saw two followers of Knights of the Light in an argument with mercenaries over tents. Anfey scolded the knights without even bothering to asked what was going on. The poor knights sulked away to report to their supervisors what Anfey had done.
Even carefree Blavi noticed Alice was not emotionally stable. Smart Alice hid herself in the underground city after she dealt with the confrontation with Knights of the Light. No one else dared bother Anfey, so Moramatch was super quiet that evening.
Anfey sat on the bed with his legs crossed. He kept wiping the sword for a long time. This sword was made by dwarves, so the quality was exceptional. Every country had their own large amount of dwarf craftsmen, but they suffered disdain from others. The dwarves in Moramatch enjoyed a lot of freedom, so they had a much better work ethic. They put more effort into the sword-making when they knew the swords were for Anfey, Suzanna and a few others. These swords were the product of their hard work and would not have any quality issues.
Anfey locked his eyes on the sword but was lost in thought. A couple always developed their own habits. After receiving others’ blessing for their relationship, Suzanna had been taking care of his daily life. His clothes were always clean. Suzanna would clean his room in the hotel, find clean and comfy dry straws if they staying in the wild, bring him food at dinner time, and even cut meat and bread into smaller pieces for Anfey’s convenience if Anfey did not have time to eat. She was careful with cutting and not making any noise in case she interrupted Anfey. Anfey liked to have a late night snack, so Suzanna always prepared it for him, even in the wild. Suzanna could always pick some tasty wild fruits for Anfey’s late night snack.
Suzanna’s departure disrupted their routine, which made Anfey feel uneasy and lonely.
Someone knocked on Anfey’s door. Anfey could not help frowning and asked coldly, “Who is it?”
“It is me.” Black Eleven’s voice rose outside of the door.
“What’s wrong?” If this had happened in the past, Anfey would have already opened the door and let Black Eleven in. He was never pretentious nor posed as important person, but right now he really did not want to be bothered.
“Master, someone wants to see you,” Black Eleven said with a helpless tone. He knew this was not a good time to talk with Anfey, but he had no other options.
Anfey was quiet for a second before he said slowly, “Come in.”
The door swung open. Black Eleven escorted a person covered from head to toe with a cloak. As Black Eleven closed the door, the person took off his cloak and showed who he was. He kneeled at Anfey, “Master.”
“It is you!” Anfey could not help looking surprised. The person in front of Anfey was the same arrogant Knight of the Light, Martin. Anfey looked at Black Eleven, “Armin, what is going on?”
“Should I tell Anfey, or should you?” Black Eleven shrugged.
“I think it’s better you tell Master Anfey.” Anfey did not respond to him, nor asked him to stand up, but the guy looked easier and more relaxed with a smile. He looked like he did not care much. To be honest, Martin looked a lot more pleasant now. During the day, many mercenaries wanted to swing their fists at his stinky face.
“Martin works for the king,” Black Eleven said quietly.
Anfey was smart and had a quick response. This one simple explanation was good enough for him to connect all the suspicious dots in his head. Within a short time, Anfey had already figured out what had happened.
Yolanthe had an agreement with Pope William, but that was only for the time being. He would never let Church of Light expand on this territory. The most effective way was to pick fights between mercenaries and Church of Light and create antagonism. Martin would not be the only spy.
Yolanthe could think of controlling his military and not having any conflict with mercenaries. So could Pope William. If Pope William could not think in a sophisticated manner and only use force, William would not have become pope. Yolanthe was more strategic, so he not only predicted what William would do, he also planned ahead to ruin William’s plan.
With Martin in Knights of the Light, Church of Light would make more people dislike them. Anyone who had contact with Shield of Light legion would likely prefer Maho Empire’s military and hate those arrogant Knights of the Light. The antagonism would turned to fighting sooner or later. Even though Fernando tried to appease to Maho Empire, he could not simple accomplish that. If the situation continued, Knight Fernando could only use force to protect Church of Light’s benefits. Martin and his fellows picked bloody fights to make the antagonism even worse, which meant Fernando would lose more battles. It would be inevitable for Fernando to be fired.
Anfey could not remember how many times he felt he admired Yolanthe so much. After he went quiet for a while, Anfey said slowly, “You are Martin. How long have you been working for the king?”
“I am an orphan. Without the king, I could have starved to death,” Martin said. “When I was a teenager, the king sent me to the church and helped me become an apprentice knight. It has been about ten years from that time.”
Anfey had a bitter smile on his face. Ten years ago? Yolanthe might not need people like Martin until they died because there was no opportunity to fight with Church of Light. However, Yolanthe planned cautiously for every step, not afraid of spending money on people, or wasting his own time just for one possibility.
A top power could have the control of his own life, but that was it. Anfey tried to be a top power so he could control of his own life. Yolanthe actually controlled many other people’s lives, like Martin. His youth, even his life had been dedicated to Yolanthe. How many people were like Martin and how many people’s lives were dedicated to Yolanthe?
“Did the king ask you to see me?” Anfey asked slowly.
“The king has told me to show my real identity when it is needed,” Martin said.
“Is it the time you are talking about?” Anfey asked.
“Master, I have not completed my job yet, but I am worried about what you would do to me.” Martin hesitated for a second and looked like he was trying to find an appropriate way to say it. “I am afraid I would be killed by you some day. It would be a sad joke.” Martin smiled bitterly. He was obedient. Anfey did not ask him to stand up, so Martin had been kneeling as he talked. Compared with his arrogance during the day, Anfey had such a strange feeling towards him.
“Hehehe, to be honest, I did want to kill you,” Anfey said.
“The subordinates of Hilde have died.” Martin felt Anfey did not understand, and reminded him. “The two guys you kicked. Hilde tried to fight you. Hehehe, but he was convinced by Captain Stephens.”
“Ok.” Anfey paused. “How many people do you have? Can you give me a list?”
“Well…” Martin was shocked. Anfey was asking a little too much. That was not just a list of names, which represented past decades of hard work of Maho Empire and Yolanthe.
“First of all, I am worried about more misunderstandings. Secondly, I could work with you. There were some mature people in Knights of the Light. I could help you kill them and you will have the total control of the situation,” Anfey said calmly.
Martin’s eyes brightened. He said hesitantly, “I have to get permission first.”
“Up to you.” Anfey nodded. “Please get up. Do you have anything else?”
“No. That is all.” Martin stood up and smiled. “Master, I will continue to mess around in the town tomorrow. I hope you will not get angry.”
“I got it. I will ask those mercenaries not get involved and let you guys mess around for a few days, but do not over do it. If you let those mercenaries get wild, you will be in trouble,” Anfey said.
“I understand, Master.” Martin bowed.
