"However, we must prevent rumors from spreading. Simply ignoring this isn't an option. General Connacht, how do you suggest we handle this?" Godwyn asked.
"The Golden Dynasty has zero tolerance for the Frenzied Flame. Even if these people haven't been 'blessed' by it yet, they have had far too much contact with its creed. Their minds are tainted," Connacht said stiffly. "In my view, they should all be executed on the spot."
Godwyn remained noncommittal. "Prince Raven, you look like you have something to say?"
"I believe that would be unwise," Raven said.
Connacht glared at him.
"We should send the villagers to Volcano Manor," Raven continued. "Praetor Rykard's reputation for justice is well-known, even as far away as Caria. To my knowledge, the Golden Dynasty has always handed suspects over to Volcano Manor for interrogation. Why make an exception this time?"
"Cultists of the Frenzied Flame do not require interrogation," Connacht snorted. "Once identified, they are executed immediately. It has always been so."
"They haven't truly embraced the Frenzied Flame yet. The actual cultists were all eliminated during the battle," Raven countered sharply. "Executing them privately without a public trial... one might suspect you are simply trying to silence them."
Connacht's face flushed a deep crimson, but he found himself unable to argue.
"Prince Raven makes a valid point. The process of a public trial is necessary," Godwyn nodded. "How about this: I will take these villagers with me at dawn. Prince Raven and General Connacht, you will remain in the village to wait for the official party from the Capital."
"Rykard..." Connacht muttered the name, still appearing reluctant, before finally relenting. "I have no objection."
With an agreement finally reached, the group filed out of the hut.
"Prince Godwyn, I leave these villagers in your hands," Raven said.
"I will see to it," Godwyn replied. "And I leave things here to you."
Raven hesitated for a moment before saying, "Fine. I'll keep an eye on Connacht. I won't let his men get near those letters or documents."
Godwyn smiled, patted Raven on the shoulder, and turned to leave.
At dawn, Godwyn's personal guard assembled, preparing to escort the villagers onto the road.
"Moo—"
Raven followed the sound and found a small calf lying in the grass, staring at the villagers and lowing softly.
"Lansang, you actually didn't eat it?"
"It looked a bit pitiful. I suddenly didn't feel like roasting it, so I let it go," Lansang shrugged. "Hey, what's with that look?"
"Nothing. I just thought it fits your style perfectly." Raven chuckled, then suddenly bent down, scooped up the calf, and walked toward the villagers.
The villagers fearfully parted to let him through.
"You should take this cow with you," Raven said.
"Why give it to me?" asked the woman Connacht had injured. Despite Lansang's healing, her face remained ghostly pale.
"No reason. Eat it, discard it—do as you wish." Raven looked back at the ruins of Windmill Village and the fields of bitter wheat still swaying in the wind outside. "However, it's already been weaned; it should be easy to keep alive. Perhaps one day you'll be able to return, and it can help you when you till the fields."
"We can... return?"
"Perhaps. It's always good to have hope."
"Don't think this makes you any less of a villain." The woman's voice was perhaps too loud, causing the infant on her back to burst into tears.
She didn't say anything more, giving him one last fierce glare before leaning down to take the calf. "Hypocrite," she muttered under her breath.
She took the hand of a young boy of eight or nine beside her and walked away without looking back. Raven watched the villagers disappear into the distance before turning back to the mercenary camp.
Returning to his room, Raven found a quill and, after a moment of contemplation, wrote the first line.
"To my brother, Rykard..."
Within ten minutes, he signed his name at the end, folded the parchment, and pressed his seal into the wax.
Finding a ranger sitting on a low wall munching on an apple, Raven asked, "Buzhe, are you interested in joining my knightly order?"
"Oh, Your Highness remembers my name!" The ranger hopped down excitedly, tossing his apple. "Of course I am! The way you charged in alone and planted the order's banner on the wall was the coolest thing I've ever seen! I'm willing to follow you, Prince."
"Then I have a mission for you. Complete it, and you shall be an Edict Knight of the order." Raven pulled out the letter. "Deliver this to Volcano Manor and hand it to Praetor Rykard. Can you do that?"
"No problem," the ranger said, thumping his chest. "That's easy. I'll ride my horse to death if I have to, just to get this to Lord Rykard as fast as possible."
"There's no need to go quite that fast, or you'll have only yourself to blame when I make you an infantry squire," Raven joked. "Just deliver it at a normal pace. But make sure it gets there."
As he watched the ranger ride out of Windmill Village, Raven exhaled, feeling a slight weight lift from his mind.
From the morning onward, scouts from various factions began to arrive, and Confessors of the Two Fingers were seen wandering about. It wasn't until the following day that the official investigative party finally reached the village.
"A Black Blade Kindred of Maliketh." Connacht sat atop his horse, peering through a telescope, his voice laced with deep trepidation. "I didn't expect them to send one of those monsters. Things must be even more serious than I thought."
"What does it mean when a Black Blade Kindred is deployed?" Raven asked coldly.
"The nobles use them to scare children who don't behave," Connacht said. "They are far better at internal purges than external warfare. Those monsters have minds soaked in corpse wax; they don't give a damn about anyone's status."
The Black Blade Kindred carried a great halberd and a colossal sword, its blades consecrated in corpse wax emitting an indescribable odor. It stood taller than a mountain troll. It didn't stick to the main road; instead, it folded its wings and strode through the bitter wheat fields, leaving a long trail of churned earth behind it.
"General Connacht, Prince Raven. I am Crepus, Chief of the Confessors. I will be heading the investigation from here on," a man with a dark, somber aura said in a sickly, thin voice. He didn't lower his hood; his face remained hidden in shadow, making it seem as though vipers were crawling beneath the fabric.
"Hmph. Crepus of the Black-Key." Connacht turned his horse away. "Do as you please."
Raven scanned the crowd for a familiar face and soon rode out to meet him. "Master Corhyn! I trust you've been well."
"Prince Raven, you and Prince Godwyn have stirred up quite the hornet's nest this time," Corhyn said with a troubled expression. "The Frenzied Flame faith spreading on such a scale so close to the Capital... I don't know how many people will have to answer for this. In the court, Queen Marika and King Radagon have even had a disagreement. Such a thing has never happened before."
"Some mines are better triggered early than left to explode later," Raven shrugged.
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Elden Ring: The Unborn One's Journey Through Elden Ring(96 Chapter - Ongoing)
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