Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 441 Grandma Bazelina
Count Bazel put down the letter in his hand without expression.

He had dark brown hair, slightly sparse, neatly combed back, and held a pair of lenses with gold rims in his hand.

When people first see him, they think he is more like a scholar than a powerful lord who holds one of the four domains in the North.

What did their letter say?

Bazel's eyes darted around, looking towards one side of the room.

A thin man was leaning against the bookshelf. Judging from his attire, he should be an advisor, but his words were anything but polite.

Barzel, however, was not annoyed. He smiled and said, "Those dukes were criticizing me for provoking the prince, which led to him turning against us."

"That was an expected reaction. So, did they choose us or the prince?"

“Of course it’s us,” Bazel said calmly. “They’ve disliked the prince for a long time, but they just didn’t want to be the first to speak up. Besides, they’ve always thought they were the strongest and that the alliance should be led by them.”

Who thinks they are the strongest?

“All three of them think so.” Count Bazel shrugged. “They are foolish, conservative, and dismissive of new things. They only reluctantly gave up their positions when my Winter Wolf Guard had guns pointed at their heads. And now, they are eager to provoke the prince.”

"It seems the Queen's judgment was correct. There is no need to station troops in the North. These nobles are like crabs in a bucket, pulling each other along, and in the end, none of them can escape."

Count Bazel casually tossed the letter aside, interlaced his fingers to support his chin, and tilted his head slightly: "Actually, I'm more curious why you don't just take action against them directly—the Northern Alliance is nothing but a disorganized mess, easily dealt with using a few tricks."

"The Vatican has its own arrangements." The man's words were devoid of emotion.

"Then I'll continue hunting down those resistance fighters as agreed. I'll send a few heads over every now and then. It's funny, the prince actually broke the alliance because of Nora. Could it really be related to that island called Castel?"

"Don't worry about those things. The failure of the 'Mother' must have some hidden reasons. Perhaps it was a contingency plan left by the Pirate King. You just need to do your job well. Once the Papacy establishes the New Eden, there will surely be a place for you there."

Bazel nodded: "It would be my honor."

The man quickly disappeared from the room, while Count Bazel continued to peruse the documents. Some time later, he picked up a battle report and revealed a sneer.

He reached out and shook the bell, and soon a young girl dressed as a butler entered: "Your Excellency."

“My wolf cubs reported a great victory and took many heads.”

Congratulations.

"Go to the front line and take a look. Find out how much damage you've suffered, how many more people and equipment you need to send in, and whether you still have any fighting capacity. Also, find out if you can replace the alpha wolf."

"Understood." The girl turned to leave, but was then stopped by Bazel.

"and many more."

Bazel crumpled the battle report into a ball, casually tossed it into the fireplace, and stared intently at the girl who had turned around. "Lina, who do you think is on the other side? Is it one of you, the Moths of Fire?"

"Somewhat similar."

Count Bazel rested his chin on his hand and began to think, his fingers slowly tapping the tabletop, one tap after another.

The girl stood motionless, as quiet as a doll.

After a long while, Count Bazel slowly spoke: "The Winter Wolf is not important, the mission of the Holy See is not important, and even whether Nora is dead or alive is not important. When you go this time, you should still prioritize finding out about the Bone Raven and those Fire Moths."

Lina's eyes flickered, and she turned and left the room.

"Understood." She took a few steps forward, her figure suddenly stiffened for a moment, then turned into a flat surface like a painting, before folding, twisting, and scattering into threads all over the ground.

Grand Duchy of Dragonfang, Frostwood Town.

An old woman walked quietly down the street, her clothes slightly worn, and her expression showing a hint of the slowness of old age.

Leaning on a wooden stick, she walked back to a small house, skillfully pushed open the door, and sat half-upright on the bed.

After she closed the door, her originally kind face instantly turned gloomy, and her dullness and hunchback disappeared.

Even his appearance has changed slightly; there is a hint of heroism in his eyes, and he no longer shows any signs of old age.

She is the mother-in-law, a superhuman from Castel, and it was Hughes who asked her to come to the North to investigate.

Although even Nora thought the chances of the resistance fighters surviving were slim, Hughes still decided to send someone to check the situation first, since it was just speculation.

The extraordinary abilities of the Fire-Chasing Moth are best suited for concealment and reconnaissance, which is why it ultimately chose the old woman.

The old woman is a very experienced superhuman; Richard himself admitted that she is the strongest of the Firemoths, so going to the North shouldn't be a problem for her.

But then, trouble struck.

If the Nymphs are masters of concealment and escape, and have virtually no natural enemies, then the Candlelight Society's Investigators are their most troublesome adversaries.

The Investigators are the most versatile, but as their name suggests, they excel at investigation and tracking.

The mother-in-law felt like she was being watched by an "investigator".

If it's someone with superhuman abilities from other sources, then as long as they leave things clean, there's nothing to fear. If it's Nora who's going against Grandma, Grandma is confident she can outmaneuver her.

But the investigator won't work.

The investigator's investigation is one of the extraordinary abilities; they can directly obtain clues from the Sea of ​​Ignorance. If the investigator wants to, they can eventually catch the Nymph.

It's just a matter of how long it takes.

Normally, the mother-in-law would either flee immediately, hoping the other party wouldn't react in time, or she would stall for time, waiting for the investigator to make a mistake.

— The Investigator is highly capable and versatile, but has only one minor flaw: occasional bad luck.

They may inexplicably make some extremely foolish mistakes, and this is unavoidable, a result of the influence of the sea of ​​ignorance, penetrating deep into their souls.

The first sentence in the Candlelight Vigil investigator's handbook is: "Don't rely too much on your abilities."

The Moths and the Candlelight Society have been fighting for countless years. They know each other very well and are intimately familiar with each other's abilities, but the outcome is never certain.

In the past, my mother-in-law would have chosen one of the two options, based on the experience accumulated by countless predecessors.

But this time, the mother-in-law is determined to confront the issue head-on.

[Nymphs] don't have much direct combat ability, but they're not completely without it either. At least their strength is far greater than that of ordinary people, and their physical attributes are also quite good.

The old woman pulled a Dragon Breath Cannon from under the bed, stroked the steel barrel, and grinned.

(End of this chapter)