Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

"I will bring Derya back to life."

"The founder and your father would never want to see you like this."

Lina, now dressed, took a greatsword from the weapon rack and cleaved the chair the messenger had once sat in in two.

“They’re dead, all of them are dead. Derya is my only home, and I will do anything to protect it.”

"Should that envoy be monitored?"

"Forget it. Let's not even talk about where our knights get their surveillance capabilities. He's just a nice-looking puppet manipulated by Glenda. He has no power. I could crush him with one hand. The real power holders are hiding behind the scenes. Devonleya has recently produced a clever one. Troublesome. If we make direct contact, we can kidnap him."

Outside the window, a small wisp of void was floating, its outline resembling a swaying tentacle.

Lyle and Echel, hiding on the edge of the windowsill, looked at each other.

"I have a feeling Mr. Reed is about to explode."

"If it were my turn, I'd start killing right now. Let's go back and find him first."

The Dreya underwent a major change, heading in a direction that its founder, Rhed, was unwilling to face.

Lyle and Echel relayed the detailed information to the waiting Reid, looking at the silent knight with worry, fearing that he would storm the tower right now.

As the intelligence continued to be recounted, Lyle could hear Reed's increasingly heavy breathing.

Until that one sentence, "They're all dead."

It turned into a sigh.

Reed leaned against the wall, watching the flames rise from the bustling street.

"Lina has grown into an outstanding queen." Reed's voice didn't convey the satisfaction he was expressing. "That's good. She made her own choice, and I... respect her choice."

Echel was immediately displeased. He and Reed often boasted about their granddaughters. Although they hadn't become like-minded, he had long considered Reed's granddaughter Lena and his own Kayla to be on equal footing.

Put yourself in her shoes. If Keira were forced to marry someone because of Livishe, well, enough said, draw your bow and I'll shoot you all into a string of gourds.

"Are you crazy?! You want to hand over your granddaughter to some dog shit family that you don't even know where you came from?"

“Devenlaya isn’t some shitty family, that’s where I left,” Reed said weakly. “I was once a member of the Devenlaya family, and the patriarch at the time was my brother. But I despised that cowardly family, so I led my people to the wilderness and established a country, which is Dereia.”

"Lina's choice can also be seen as her acknowledging her roots."

"Screw your claim to your ancestors! Did death take your balls with you? I really misjudged you. You're like a turtle, all shell and no substance. One word: your granddaughter, are you going to take care of her or not? You're not? I am!"

“I’ve said it many times, Echel, don’t interfere with the lives of the living. The dead should behave like the dead. My granddaughter is not a toy for you to manipulate.”

"Damn it, you're insane! I'm doing this for her own good!"

"Good or bad! It's none of your business to judge!"

"Damn it! I'm going back to Leviser right now to lead my troops and wipe you all out, then I'll take Lina back!" Echel huffed and puffed as she prepared to leave.

Reed immediately pounced on him, shouting, "I'll kill you right now!"

Seeing the two wrestling, Lyle quickly intervened to break them up. The surrounding Derians didn't find it strange; this was a nation that revered strength.

"Hey, old king, keep it up! Kill this old bastard and Deria will be utterly destroyed." The voice of the dove appeared in Lyle's ears. He himself was sitting on the roof, watching the two wrestling with a smile.

"Stop making a fuss, Turtledove, quickly help pull them apart."

“There’s no need, Mr. Lyle. Deria is about to be finished. Let the dead king have his fun.”

Hearing what the turtledove said, the two stopped fighting.

Echer looked at his men.

"What did you say? Derya is doomed?"

The parrot appeared beside Echer and relayed the intelligence gathered by the Night Owl Squad.

"After leaving the tower, the envoy from Devonella did not return to the embassy. Instead, he joined another group of armored men wearing black hoods. They met secretly in the basement of the makeshift Church of Holy Light. Thirty minutes later, the envoy returned to Devonella's embassy."

"If it were just to put pressure on Deria, there would obviously be no need for so many actions. Devenleya is planning something else. They don't just want to take Deria away, but what could be more serious than taking Deria away?"

The turtledove cheered gleefully, "See? I told you, Derya is doomed!"

Chapter 341 Echer's Pain

The entire Night Owl team eventually reunited and summarized the intelligence they had gathered.

"Someone in Deria is spreading negative rumors about Liviser, and the source isn't from Deria's official sources." Lyrebird shrugged. "Liviser is described as a savage who eats blood and carcasses."

I glanced at Lyle.

"There are rumors that Levisser possesses necromancy."

Echel nodded. “I understand. I mean, I understand their penchant for making things up. Cultural differences are there. Next.”

“Most of the supplies circulating within Deria come from the Devenleyra family’s transportation channels. However, the total amount is strange. Although Deria is just a small country, the amount of supplies it needs is staggering,” Lark handed the copied accounts to Echer. “If the Devenleyra family can afford the entire expenses of a country, why don’t they build their own country?”

“Maybe they really are utterly rubbish,” the dove offered its opinion.

“Strength can be accumulated. The strength of Deria and Levis is also built on the resources of the Sword Dance Mandala.”

"Could it be that they want the resources of the Sword Dance Mandala?"

"Obtaining Derya naturally means obtaining the Sword Dance Mandala."

Nightingale took out a small map and pointed to two marks on it.

"This is the meeting place between the Devonleya envoy and the masked knight, underground in the Church of Holy Light. The entrance is in the open space at the back, with one entrance and one exit, and there are hidden sentries. The Dereya knights would avoid this location because it is Devonleya's snow storage area. There is another snow storage area, which is in the manor of a Dereya knight who was confirmed dead three days ago. The land deed for that land is still being processed, and it is now being used temporarily as a supply storage warehouse."

"Hiding in the basement of the Holy Light Church, does that mean they want to impersonate a church force?"

"Why pretend to be a church force? Maybe it really is a church force?"

“Would you steal chickens and dogs in your own home? And do shady things in your own basement?” Echel tapped her fingers. “If someone did that, there are only two possibilities: either they’re really stupid, or they’re really crazy.”

Zhen stepped forward. "Next is the investigation into that envoy. An ordinary person who poses no threat is probably just a mouthpiece, a puppet, trained by the family. The real Glenda Devinella has not yet been discovered, but the puppet is carrying out his orders very well. It cannot be ruled out that the Devinella family has some hidden forces."

The parrot spoke, "Regarding those masked knights, the tracking failed. Their whereabouts are unknown. They are stealthy infiltrators who are even better at hiding than we are." A slight tremor appeared in the parrot's cold eyes.

"I didn't make any further attempts. I had a feeling that those masked knights were dangerous."

The turtledove jumped out. "I've gone to the tavern."

A cold female voice appeared in the dove's ear, "You cannot drink alcohol."

The dove trembled slightly. "It was a scout, Sister Zhen. I didn't drink it; I was just curious to take a look."

"Those drunkards spouted mostly boring nonsense, but there were some interesting things. The Dreyars said that their founder's tomb had been vandalized and was now guarded by knights around the clock."

Lyle looked at Mr. Reid.

This is already known, and there might even be Mr. Echer's shoe prints, after all, their founder himself ran away.

"The Dreyar people are furious about this. The dead king holds a very important place in their hearts, and there are even rumors that the kingdom is getting worse with each generation. Alas, even the queen wants to sell herself, and some people still think it's not right."

"The world is going to the dogs, and people are so cold-hearted."

Echel slapped her arm. "Hmm... these are just scattered pieces of information. We really need to figure out the identity of the Masked Rider and what they're planning."

"Is espionage not working out? For example, could we replace Devon Laila's envoy and extract information from the masked knight?"

“We don’t know the customs of that family. Livis’s only long-term perceived enemy is Deria, and as you know, Deria doesn’t need to do espionage at all.”

"They were all plotting loudly."

Lyle covered his mouth, while the dove had already burst out laughing.

Seeing this, Echel punched the kid to shut him up.

"Reed, what are some of the Devonleya family's customs?"

Reed shook his head. "I became independent because I couldn't stand those rigid dogmas."

“It’s all the founders’ fault that Derya has become like this.” Echel patted his face, trying to regain his composure. “So, we need a master spy now, and Parrot’s intuition tells us that those masked knights are dangerous. We can’t be exposed; we only have one chance. We need a very powerful master spy.”

Echel first surveyed her Night Owl Squad, who all relied on natural camouflage to get started and were ill-suited for espionage missions that depended on personal experience. They were too reliant on ranger abilities.

As for Reed, PASS. The Reedians don't play dirty tricks.

"So, we'll have to find a way to hire mercenaries, specifically espionage specialists."

Are there any suitable candidates from the City of Wanderings?

"Several races are skilled at disguise, but... they don't have much contact with human races, so it would be very difficult for them to imitate human habits."

Lyle sighed helplessly. To put it bluntly, whether it was Levisser, Deria, or the City of Wanderers, they were all a group of autistic children detached from human society. Their contact with ordinary human society was almost non-existent.

The Night Owl team was sent out to continue searching for useful intelligence, while Echel remained in place, deep in thought.

Lyle looked at Echel with a puzzled expression.

Why would a former king of an enemy country, a king who lost his own son, care so much about this country? Is it really just out of sympathy for Queen Lina of Dreya?

Lyle didn't let his doubts linger; instead, he took the initiative to ask.

“Echer, Cano Livese, the dead Night Owl, is that right?”

Upon hearing that name, a clear struggle appeared in Echer's eyes.

He sighed. "The Night Owl team told you that they probably have the same confusion as you."

"Fine, I'll tell you what my son did."

“Night Owl, Kano Livisser, my son, was killed by the Knights of Drea. I feel no sorrow for him, only anger.”

"Why did Kano die in Dreya?"

"Because he's crazy."

“At that time, I had just handed the crown to him. He told me that he would do something great.”

“A few days later, he reached an agreement with the King of Dereia, who was also the son of Rhed.”

"The two kingdoms will form an alliance to jointly face the harassment of other countries. I've fought with Reid my whole life, and now our son is going to make up? A funny feeling came to my mind, and I started to imagine what it would be like to meet that old guy again."

“I blessed my child as he attended the banquet hosted by Derya.”

"he died."

"The peace agreement was torn up, or was it just a deception fabricated by Deria that killed my Kano. Enraged, I went mad and, carrying my longbow, went alone to Deria to seek revenge."