"My lord, your guest has arrived," a maidservant said, peeking in through the lifted curtain.

"Show him in," Otto Losi took out a silver wolf and handed it to the drinking companion beside him. "I don't need you for now. I'll call you if I need anything."

"Yes, my lord."

"This is the discreet location you mentioned?" The man who entered removed his hood and frowned as he looked around. "If it weren't for the Losi family guards standing outside, I would have thought I was in the wrong place."

"It's not easy to get you to show your face these days, so naturally, I can't be careless," Otto grinned.

The visitor was none other than Hill Fox, "the ambassadorial member who betrayed the trust of the Lord of Dawn, murdered the guard knight, and fled Glory City with his fallen claws." Ever since he noticed Yokko's party had left without saying goodbye, Anpein Moya, the Lord of Dawn, was furious. He declared that this was a blatant provocation and contempt for the Dawn by Graycastle, and stated that it was witches who killed his father, and he would absolutely not allow such evil exist in his territory.

Of course, Otto knew far more than that. For example, while Anpein searched for witches, he also sent knight squads to pursue the envoy, ordering that everyone except Yokko could be dealt with as they saw fit, especially those witches who dared to collude with neighboring countries, not a single one should be allowed to escape. At the same time, a purge was launched in the royal city. The female merchant Denise, who had been very close to the ambassador before, was taken to the palace for questioning several times. Hill and the others who had volunteered to stay as contacts seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

It wasn't until several months later, when the situation had gradually calmed down, that he received a message from the other party again.

This was their first meeting since their farewell.

"Need something to drink?" Otto patted the soft couch beside him. "You probably don't have many opportunities to enjoy these things, do you?"

Hill didn't sit down but instead walked to the window and looked out. "This is the second floor. What about the reliable escape route you mentioned in the secret letter?"

The eldest son of the Losi family sighed helplessly, stood up, and lifted the wooden board under the soft couch, revealing a dark hole below.

"Slide down from here, and you'll land in the back garden. Not only is there a hidden door in the yard, but there's also a dry well. You can leave from anywhere you want."

"No one knows about this route?"

"Of course. Even this tavern is run by the Losi family," he spread his hands and said. "Lord Yokko wasn't wrong to call you a fox. You're as cautious as ever."

"If I wasn't, I'd probably be hanging from the gallows right now," Hill took out a coin and dropped it down the secret passage, listening for a while before closing the wooden board. "If you want to send me any messages in the future, use secret letters. Meeting like this isn't safe."

"But secret letter communication carries a considerable risk for me as well. If the information in the royal palace were to leak out, Emperor Anpein would suspect the three major families first," Otto sighed. "He's no longer the friend I could talk to about anything."

Hill raised an eyebrow, noncommittal. "So, what new developments are there with the Lord of Dawn?"

"He plans to attack the Hermes Church to avenge his father," the eldest son of the Losi family slowly recounted the conversations he had heard during the court council. "Although some ministers advised against it, His Majesty is determined to do so. Glory City has already begun requisitioning grain, and they should act after the Evil Moon ends and the heavy snow melts. At that time, the Royal Knight Order will set out with Duke Cab, who is in charge of the western wilderness."

"So that's why the porridge money has gone up by a copper eagle recently... Fortunately, Dawn has enough supplies. If it were Graycastle, the lord would never prepare for war during the Evil Moon unless he wanted to cause a riot," Hill said thoughtfully. "Is there a problem with Hermes?"

Otto knew what the other party meant by asking this. Although the Church and Graycastle had fought a great battle at Coldwind Ridge, and rumors of the Holy City's defeat had spread, further information revealed that both sides had retreated to their own territories. The ministers all agreed that the Church may have suffered heavy losses but had not been completely defeated. Otherwise, the King of Graycastle should have led his troops to the Holy City for a good looting—as the core city of the Church, the wealth accumulated there must be considerable.

Perhaps the God's Punishment Warriors brought by the Purified Ones had left a deep impression on Anpein, so much so that he had remained at the stage of continuing to send out scouts to gather information and had not taken any other action.

Now the situation had changed, which could only mean that they had discovered something new over there.

As for whether it was to avenge his father or to take advantage of the situation, that didn't matter at all.

"His Majesty didn't reveal any specific information to us, but I heard from merchants returning from the west that there seem to be many refugees in the Old Holy City."

"Refugees..." Hill stroked his chin and nodded. "I will pass this information back to Neverwinter City."

"There's one more thing," Otto hesitated before saying. "During the weekly court council, the Foreign Minister mentioned Graycastle—he said that Roland Wimbledon wasn't a true ruler of Graycastle. He hadn't held an enthronement ceremony, nor had he moved into the royal palace. Even within the kingdom, many nobles were opposing him, especially in the Eastern Territory. Since he trampled on the alliance treaty between the two countries in such a way, then Dawn also needed to be wary of and contain him, for example, by supporting those nobles to continue resisting Wimbledon's rule."

"Oh?" Hill's expression immediately became serious. "What was the Lord of Dawn's response?"

"His Majesty didn't respond immediately, but judging from his expression... he seemed quite interested in this matter."

Otto didn't know why he was telling these things to Hill... or rather, to Roland. From the current situation, the relationship between Graycastle and Dawn was constantly deteriorating. He should stand on Anpein Moya's side, just as the Losi family had assisted the Moya royal family for generations.

But he couldn't convince himself to accept His Majesty's policies. The extermination of witches meant including Andrea Quinn, but the latter was definitely not the evil that Anpein spoke of. He had explained the relationship between the Church's Purified Ones and the witches to His Majesty more than once, but in the end, it was all in vain.

Anpein no longer regarded them as arms.

Otto also realized that although he still called the other party His Majesty, he no longer had the respect he had when facing the old king.

After thinking it over, perhaps it was because he felt powerless to change the current situation in Dawn and had to place his hopes on Graycastle—in Neverwinter City, he had seen Andrea living a free life. In order not to disrupt that kind of life, he hoped that Roland's rule could continue.

"I understand," Hill said in a deep voice. "Don't worry, this plan will not succeed."

Otto nodded and took a deep breath. "Then... can you tell me some recent news about Miss Quinn?"