After ending the conversation with the front line, Nightingale placed a silver-white sealed ring on his desk.
This was a fastener specifically for messenger pigeons, made from two pressed aluminum sheets. It could hold a rolled piece of paper the size of a palm. It was a significant improvement from the initial method of directly tying cloth strips to their claws. Coupled with Soroya's specially made "ultra-thin paper," the amount of information transmitted in the secret messages had greatly increased.
Because the probability of accidents for messenger pigeons became non-negligible after a distance of more than five hundred kilometers, relay nodes were set up in various administrative halls. To efficiently sort the secret messages, the fasteners were also printed with identification numbers, equivalent to modern-day train tickets. With just a glance, one could understand where the secret message was sent from and where it was going.
The first letter "c" on this fastener indicated that it came from the Kingdom of Dawn – when Roland established this system for secrecy reasons, he directly used the pinyin abbreviation instead of the standard characters commonly used by the Four Kingdoms.
"Sent from Thorns Town in the Kingdom of Dawn?" He raised an eyebrow. "When did you get it?"
"Ten minutes ago, Honey came by," Nightingale replied. "But I saw you were on the phone, so I didn't interrupt you."
Could there be new discoveries in the Cage Mountain Ruins? Roland pried open the fastener and unfolded the letter.
The content of the letter was a bit long, and it took him half an hour to understand the recent situation encountered by the Royal Guards.
"I didn't expect that the Church would have a day when they would seek help from Graycastle." Putting down the letter, Roland couldn't help but sigh. Although he knew that once they abandoned Hermes, they would no longer have the opportunity to make a comeback, it would still be no problem for them to become local tyrants in a remote place. In the end, the one who delivered the fatal blow to the fugitives was the Church's former Bishop. It must be said that this was a dramatic ending.
"Have those homeless dogs who abandoned the orphans in the Holy City Monastery been found?" Nightingale asked.
"If the letter is correct, the Church is almost non-existent," Roland handed the letter to her. "Their last hope betrayed them."
After reading the letter, Nightingale looked at him, "What are you going to do?"
"Now that the Grand Duke Island Earl's steward has confessed everything and the whereabouts of the relics have been found, sending someone to Wolfheart is only a matter of time," Roland tapped the table lightly. "The sacrificial magic cube can react to condensed high-purity uranium wafers, so the scenes in the murals may not be purely artistic fictions. No matter what its function is, it is best controlled by Neverwinter. As for that captured Church agent, Farina..." He paused, "Bring her back to be tried along with Joe."
"That sounds like something you would say." Nightingale smiled slightly.
"I thought you wouldn't like this answer." Roland considered his words. "After all, the Church once cruelly persecuted you."
"I don't hate the Church, or even humans for that matter," Nightingale said frankly. "But since learning that the one who planned all this was Akalys, who was also a witch, and that everything she did was to continue her own existence, my thinking has changed. It's hard to hate anymore; I just think she is both pitiful and pathetic. Besides, the Church that was supported by Falling Star City has now disappeared. Even if I wanted to retaliate, I can't find a target."
"Uh... you used to hate humans?" Roland asked with some surprise.
"Wouldn't it be strange if I didn't hate them?" Nightingale glared at him. "I can't control the awakening of my magic power, and I didn't use it to do evil everywhere. Why should I be driven away like a rat crossing the street? Since you treat me as an alien, why should I get along with you as the same kind - that's probably what I thought at the time. And I dare say that most witches have had similar emotions."
"So that's why you appeared in my bedroom with a bishou at the beginning?"
"That was already quite restrained," Nightingale chuckled. "The idea of hating humans was just a faint thought, but hating nobles was the real deal. If Anna hadn't fallen into your hands, I wouldn't have had the patience to sit down and talk to you... have you forgotten my former title?"
Okay, he hadn't. Shadow Assassin, the life-threatening ghost that once made the entire aristocratic circle of the old capital feel a chill down their spines.
"So your teasing back then was..."
"Pretended," Nightingale covered her mouth. "If I could expose your true nature, it would let Anna understand more deeply what nobles are, but unfortunately..."
Unfortunately what? Are you regretting that you couldn't persuade Anna to leave Border Town, or are you regretting that the teasing didn't work? Roland said unhappily, "It seems that I was really lucky at that time."
"When you are full of hatred, it is easy to go to an extreme." Nightingale patted him on the shoulder. "Not long after, I discovered that there are also exceptions like you among the nobles, just like me. Maybe it's not bad to try to trust a little."
"Should I say thank you for the recognition?"
"You're welcome." She said matter-of-factly, "As for later, there were also pure witches, even people like Celine. Those immature thoughts naturally disappeared."
"Is that so... it wasn't easy for you." Roland sighed.
"Why do I feel like your emotions are a little low?" Nightingale leaned down, her hair falling on his cheek. "What was pretended before doesn't mean what's behind is also fake. For example... now."
As soon as she finished speaking, she disappeared into the mist. When she reappeared, she was already leaning on the lounge chair with a dried fish in her mouth, winking at him triumphantly.
Roland stood up, gnashing his teeth in anger, and was about to give her a lesson to let her understand who was the King of Graycastle when the phone suddenly rang.
It was the dedicated line of the Chief Administrator.
He gave Nightingale a "you wait" look and picked up the receiver.
"Your Majesty," Barov's voice quickly sounded on the other end, "A special visitor has come to the old capital and said that he wants to meet you no matter what."
A guest who could be personally introduced by the Hand of the King was not a common occurrence. "Oh? Who is it?"
"Master Dramatist, Kakin Fes, Your Excellency." There was a hint of excitement in Barov's tone.
Why is it him again? Roland frowned. Didn't he make his refusal clear in the letter? "I still have a lot of things to do. If he doesn't have anything particularly urgent..."
"Yes, he does, Your Majesty!" Barov quickly explained the other party's intention.
"Are you sure?" Roland was slightly stunned.
"Yes, that's what he said!" The Chief Administrator said confidently.
Hearing this, an idea couldn't help but pop up in Roland's mind. After a moment of silence, he changed his previous idea, "I will receive him in the castle reception hall. Make the arrangements."