Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 398: Discovery of the Residence (5k2)

"...Very good, Luo Xiu."

Albert nodded and walked into the room.

His eyes first swept over the thick stack of files on the table, and he placed his large hand on them and asked Luo Xiu:

"What did you find?"

"It's all here - the transfer order for Zanskar, the map of Kaveri Fortress, the defense of the surrounding fortresses and towns, and the list of the 'executioners' guarding the town, etc."

As Luo Xiu spoke, he picked up a file from the table and handed it to Albert, who took it.

When I unfolded it, I saw that it was the "Topographic Map of Fort Caveri and Surrounding Areas (Military)", a map drawn on gray-white cowhide with various markings made on it with complex symbols.

Luo Xiu could only understand some of the symbols, and was confused by some of the signs like three circles and inverted triangles - but it didn't matter, as long as Albert could understand them.

Albert's eyes wandered over the newly acquired map, and excitement gradually appeared on his face.

"well……"

Albert murmured, "With this extremely detailed map, we can formulate a more detailed expedition plan and carry out strategic deployment."

"In addition to this," Luo Xiu continued to say to Albert, "there is also a general situation of the residents in the Kaveri Fortress, a statistics of heavy weapons and various supplies, all of which are recorded on this side and this side of the file."

As he spoke, Luo Xiu's hand pointed to the other side, to the other side of the cowhide file.

Albert rolled up the map and put it in his arms, then looked in the direction Luo Xiu pointed.

On that yellow cowhide, there were densely packed words written in black ink, detailing all the basic information about the Cavernier Fortress.

This includes the fact that there are more than 24,000 residents in Kaveri Fortress, more than half of whom have the social status of "slaves".

Slaves have no freedom and no rights as "human beings". Most of them are refugees who have escaped from crimes in other places or have been displaced by natural disasters or man-made disasters.
Perhaps due to various reasons, they were not accepted by the Nolan Empire, the Golden Federation and the Holy Tower Church, and finally had to come to the Dark Principality. Because they were penniless, they could only sell their freedom to the "executioners" here in exchange for inferior food to survive.

Most of the "slaves" were prisoners of war captured directly from the battlefield by the Dark Army. They worked as the most basic and humble laborers under the "Black Fang" and "Fang Head" under the executioner.

- For example, they were forced to go down into the cave to mine without any protective equipment, and were only allowed to rest for 4 hours a day; they were arranged to raise cattle, sheep, horses and other livestock, but could only eat the same feed as these livestock; they were used as experimental subjects for the latest forbidden technology, and were eventually transformed into "monsters", or died in the forbidden laboratory, etc.

During the "War of Judgment", the Dark Principality also set up a slave army, which specifically recruited strong "slaves" to undergo extremely harsh training, and used them as cannon fodder to rush to the front line and attract firepower during the war.

Luo Xiu had encountered those fearless "slave armies" several times.

Most of the "slave soldiers" have been brainwashed by the extraordinary people of the principality. When they rushed to the battlefield, the only thought in their minds was to fight, fight, and fight.

They had the same armor system as the Black Army, but the materials used were much worse. When these slave soldiers charged, they were sometimes even more ferocious than the regular army, and indeed caused considerable trouble to the empire.

And among the "residents" of Fort Kaveri -

Another 40% of the people were classified as "untouchables" in social status, which was the lowest class of people other than those who were directly deprived of their human identity, such as "slaves".

Although the "untouchables" have a minimum level of personal freedom, in reality, they have been taxed by the "lords", "executioners", and "city lords" of the fortresses or towns where they are located, to the point where they cannot pay off their taxes even after their death.

"Taxes have been collected a hundred years later" is not an exaggerated slang when applied to the "untouchables", but a real situation.

In order to pay the taxes, their best option was to join the Dark Army and plunder more slaves or wealth for the Dark Principality.

Part of the slaves and wealth they plundered could be given to them as rewards, and then this part of the reward would be paid to the lords, city lords and executioners as deed taxes.

Only a very small number of "untouchables" can pay off their debts by joining the war.

Among these people, some did achieve a rise in status through "war", becoming "Black Fang", "Fang Chief" or even the new "Executioner".

In the end, only about 5% of the residents are qualified to be "citizens" of the Dark Principality.

Although they could not be called nobles, at least they did not have to bear the terrible tax debt like the "untouchables". They usually had four or five slaves under their command, which allowed them to earn the necessary money through the "slaves" without having to work themselves.

There are indeed precedents of "untouchables" eventually becoming "citizens" of the principality, but they are still rare.

Most of those who became "citizens" of the Dark Principality were originally wealthy gentry or nobles from other countries, and most of them came from the "Nolan Empire" and the "Golden Country Federation".

However, because they had committed serious crimes or offended those in power, they realized in advance that disaster was about to happen, so they packed up all the money they could take away, took away all the relatives and family members they could take away, and fled their original countries.

The Dark Principality is most welcoming to this kind of people - as long as they pay 80% of the money and property they brought out when they fled as tribute, the Principality will grant them the status of "citizens" in the name of "Dark Grand Duke" and reward them with relatively healthy slaves.

They would not be subjected to forced labor or conscription, and the 20% of their wealth they were allowed to keep was enough to allow them to live quite comfortably in the principality.

But the principality will not give them real "power" either - "Black Fangs", "Fang Heads", "Executioners", "Executioners" and even "Chief Executioners" all emerged from wars or bloody training.

Money alone cannot impress the Dark Duke - those who have not been baptized in blood are not qualified to ascend to a high position.

This is the most basic social stratification in the Dark Principality.

The same applies to the current situation at Fort Kaveri.

At this moment, Albert's eyes were carefully browsing the entries about the residents of the fortress.

"..."

"Ariel Sigallia..."

Albert pointed to a name listed near the top of the “Citizen” column on the leather dossier and said:
"I know this person."

"As I recall, he should be a businessman from a large guild in Songyuan City."

"——The Sigalia Chamber of Commerce, they amassed nearly 10 million imperial gold coins at the time, and used this as the original capital to establish the 'Sigalia Bank'."

"'Bank of Sigalia'...are those people from the Golden Country?" Luo Xiu asked casually.

"Yes." Albert nodded.

He said with a thoughtful and somewhat amusing expression:
"I was just a 'throne knight' at the time, but I still remember what they did back then."

"The ambitions of the Sigalia Bank have grown infinitely, and in the end, they even wanted to get involved in the military industry of Songyuan Territory and establish a military monopoly."

“……” Luo Xiu scratched his head.

He could probably imagine what the senior executives of Sigalia Bank had in mind when they made such a decision.

Monopolizing the military industry of the entire territory does bring immeasurable profits, but on the other hand, if there is no truly high-ranking person, that is, the "Lord of Songyuan Territory" Marquis Vizia Bakar, to endorse you behind the scenes, then you must be prepared for a violent death one day.

Apparently, the Sigiriya Bank died a violent death—

"The Supreme discovered their plot long ago."

Albert then said, "It was after they conducted three arms transactions with a total value of over one million gold coins that we officially issued a wanted notice for them, arrested them immediately, and confiscated their ill-gotten gains."

……really!
"But we did not arrest the founder of the 'Bank of Sigalia'. It seems that there were spies of his at the round table at that time."

Albert continued:

"He got wind of it in advance, and fled with his family the night before the Knights of the Round Table entered his mansion, apparently disguising himself as an ordinary merchant from the Golden Country who had just arrived in Songyuan City."

"The Round Table sent out knights to hunt him down, but we never found any trace of his escape. He seemed to have already contacted all the people involved in his escape route, as if he had already prepared for this day."

"…" "So," Luo Xiu also pointed to the name on the file and said, "The founder of the Sigalia Bank is this 'Ariel Sigalia'?"

"...Yes." Albert nodded.

But his face remained calm, even indifferent, and he did not show any emotional fluctuations after discovering the trace of the 'fugitive'.

After all, Albert was not involved in the case at that time. He just heard about the whole process and result of the incident from his colleagues.

"no offense."

Luo Xiu suddenly smiled and said:

"To be able to do such a thing from the hands of the Supreme and finally escape successfully, this Mr. Ariel Sigaria is actually quite amazing."

"He is indeed very good." Albert also said and nodded in agreement.

But then he added:
"Because at that time, I was not the one responsible for arresting him."

"If it were me, I would never let him escape."

"..."

Luo Xiu glanced at Albert, and saw a strong sense of confidence and arrogance in his eyes that were flashing with dark red light.

"indeed."

He wanted to complain about something, but after thinking about it, he held back. Luo Xiu echoed Albert and said something.

He continued:

"The Kaveri Fortress has been placed under martial law, and because the fortress was breached very quickly, it should be difficult for Mr. Ariel Sigalia to escape."

"I have issued an order to my clergy and the Supreme Knights you entrusted to me. Until tomorrow, all the original residents of Kaveri Fortress are not allowed to go out. If any Kaveri Fortress resident is found on the street who violates the ban, he will be arrested."

"You can go meet this 'old friend' later, Lord Albert. He may be in his mansion, or in prison. But in any case, as someone who escaped to the Dark Principality long ago and successfully obtained 'citizenship' status, we may be able to learn more from him."

Luo Xiu said this, and then he continued to show Albert other sorted files.

Some trivial but unimportant files were quickly sorted into another pile and stacked on a half-high low table nearby.

Because Luo Xiu always dealt with such complicated matters, it didn't take him and Albert too long to finish processing these files.

After they finished processing these files, Luo Xiu showed Albert the large amount of money and rare treasures that Zaska had stored in his official residence.

However, these money and treasures were not very important to either Luo Xiu or Albert. Albert just took a quick look at them, estimated their approximate value in his mind, and put them aside.

According to the previous agreement between Luo Xiu and Albert, most of these money and treasures will belong to the church, and Luo Xiu will distribute half of them to the "Saint Guardians" of the church as a reward for their previous fearlessness in carrying and detonating the "Skull of Martyrs".

Albert naturally did not realize that a scroll of "ancient heritage" had been lost.

Albert's reaction seemed indifferent, which was also the result that Luo Xiu was happy to see.

He then behaved very calmly and casually closed the thick lid of the last treasure chest, allowing the dazzling light emanating from it to continue to sleep.

Afterwards, he and Albert took away several files that should be considered "top secret", and walked out of Zaska's room and the official residence with Albert, and came to the courtyard.

By the time Luo Xiu and Albert arrived at the courtyard of the official residence, the bodies of the "Black Fangs" and "Fang Heads" that had been lying there in a mess had already been cleaned up by the throne knights who were standing guard outside.

But there are still traces of blood remaining in the courtyard, splashed on the flower beds, or smeared on the walls in a twisted manner. It seems that through these remaining traces, one can still guess what happened here before.

And when they saw Albert, the "General" of the Border Court, and Rossum, the "Bishop" of the Church, walking out of the official residence together, the three "Knights of the Throne" Harburg, Shar and Ignaz came up to them together and bowed respectfully to the two high-ranking officials.

Luo Xiu smiled and nodded in response to their courtesy, while Albert just nodded slightly, and then ordered in a deep and low voice:
"Harburg, you can go in now. Clean up the unnecessary traces inside, take away the files left on the table in the innermost room, and dispose of those things that cannot be made public."

"Then, Ignaz, go find the 'Royal Knights' patrolling nearby and prepare to confiscate the money, equipment and props in this mansion."

"Sha'er, you remain in the courtyard and monitor any possible remaining enemy presence nearby."

"When Ignaz and the Royal Guards arrive, you will select four of them to continue standing guard. Then, you will go in with Ignaz and the rest of the Royal Guards and take out everything you can."

"clear."

The "Knights of the Throne" Harburg, Shar and Ignaz bowed and nodded at the same time, indicating that they had received and understood General Albert's orders.

Then, following Albert's orders, the three throne knights took action.

Albert and Luo Xiu left the courtyard of the official residence at the same time and went to the "Border Court" and "Church" garrisons respectively.

There is nothing worth noting in this mansion.

They should also return to their respective positions and make some necessary arrangements for the knights of the "Border Court" and the clergy of the "Church" after they enter the Cavernier Fortress.

……

After that, when Albert and Luo Xiu returned to their respective bases and arranged for border court and church personnel to move into the Kaveri Fortress, Albert sent people to investigate "Ariel Sigalia". It turned out that this ancient financial tycoon was still hiding in the mansion of the Kaveri Fortress.

When the knights sent by Albert finally found this "Ariel Sigalia", he was lying on a hard bed that looked quite simple. There were various medicines on the bedside table, and a basin full of blood and phlegm under the bed.

He was nearly eighty years old at this time, and had fallen seriously ill, half of his body was paralyzed, and he could no longer get out of bed.

Now Ariel Sigalia needs to rely on others to serve him for food, clothing, shelter and transportation.

Although Ariel had already received news of the approaching Red Maple City expeditionary force through his channels, and judged that the expeditionary force would sooner or later break through the Caffrey Fortress, he really didn't want to run away again.

It's not that he doesn't want to, but he really can't run anymore -

According to the report from the knights who went to Sigalia's mansion at that time, when the knights found Ariel Sigalia, he behaved very cooperatively and expressed his willingness to cooperate with the "Border Court" to take over the work of Cavernier Fortress. He only requested not to put him in prison - his body was no longer able to withstand the torment.

Albert did not respond immediately to Ariel Sigalia's request. He just asked the knights to keep Ariel under strict supervision while he carried out more important work first.

……

Until noon.

The main street of Fort Kaveri - in a hall diagonally opposite the original official residence, "Expedition Commander" Albert Perez, "Bishop" Rossu Carlos, and "Great Knowledge" Irfan and Eureka, gathered here.

Also gathered here were all the extraordinary people of the expeditionary force who were at the "triple destiny" and above, but not including the players who had been promoted to this level.

They gathered here to discuss and ultimately decide on the direction of the "expedition" -

"Our ultimate goal is to capture the capital of our border region - the deserted city, 'Fafnir Castle'."

Albert began by saying:
"We have taken the first step and captured 'Fort Kaveri'."

"Next - we will head to and capture the first town since the expedition."

"——'Latama City'."

"This is the next goal of our expedition."

……

(End of this chapter)