CHAPTER 77: CHAPTER 68: ASSASSIN

The hurried Financial Officer happened to meet Count Philip, who was leaving angrily.

"Sir, did you have a conflict with Count Philip?"

Losa nodded: "He attempted to assert his authority over me, but unfortunately, he met with failure."

Richard, the Financial Officer, said earnestly: "Sir, Philip holds high prestige in the Knight Order because he is a generous Commander, and many have received his favor."

The implication was clear: he hoped Losa would handle this matter cautiously.

"How do you think he will deal with me?"

Richard hesitated for a moment but then said: "It’s nothing but inciting the knights and soldiers who have benefited from him to defy your orders openly and then seizing on your mistakes to attack you in council meetings. Ideally, he would rally the nobles close to him to pressure Your Majesty into relieving you of your duties."

Losa nodded slightly, as he had considered these tactics.

They were far from brilliant.

Yet that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be effective.

"Richard, by telling me this, aren’t you afraid one day Count Philip becomes the Grand Master and makes trouble for you?"

Richard looked at Losa with a calm expression: "Sir, I quite like what you said in the hall; the situation in the Holy Land is precarious, and if we do not unite, we will all become victims of the Heretics."

Losa nodded thoughtfully.

"I hope Philip is smart enough not to cause trouble for me."

The Knight Order only has this much power, and Losa could never tolerate part of it being split off by Count Philip.

It would be simple to deal with Philip, just throw a pair of Iron Gloves at him in public.

Losa was confident of victory.

And the martial Franks always followed the strong.

Even if Philip did not accept the challenge, his reputation would suffer enough to prevent any further upheaval.

Guy once issued such a challenge to Belian with confidence.

But the result was entirely opposite; aided by an unknown Witch, Belian seemed like a god from heaven and struck Guy of Lusignan dumb with his fists.

"Come with me, Financial Officer, I have more questions for you."

Losa turned and walked back to the hall.

After a busy afternoon,

the affairs of the Knight Order began to fall into place, and various accumulated files were sent to the hall for Losa to read and handle.

There were actually plenty of trivial matters in the Knight Order: small frictions between colleagues, two knights fighting over landed areas, etc.

Or, recently, a piece of Eastern porcelain went missing from the Royal Palace.

Upon investigation, it was found to be stolen by someone, awaiting deliberation on how to handle it.

Such minor issues were countless, and usually, Baron Godfrey would lazily assign them to Count Philip to deal with.

The result of such delegation was giving Count Philip power to split a faction within the Knight Order opposing the King’s appointed Grand Master, Losa.

By evening, Losa put down the quill after reviewing the last document, achieving a deeper understanding of the Knight Order’s internal structure.

After Baron Godfrey and his confidants were transferred from the Royal Knight Order, many positions became vacant.

But these could not be directly granted to Losa’s loyal cavalry, as they lacked knightly titles and could not persuade the masses as mere civilians.

Losa was also unwilling to break protocol in elevating these cavalry without significant accomplishments, for choosing them as cavalry was already a blessing.

This meant Losa had to recruit talent from within the Knight Order for key positions.

This could be advantageous if managed well, allowing him to win over many hearts.

Losa stood, stretching his limbs.

By candlelight, Prajna was engrossed in a book, seemingly a theological tome; Furinjira, on the other hand, was sweetly asleep, slumped over the table.

"Hans, Prajna, let’s take a walk; we’ve been sitting here all day,"

Prajna closed the book and stood.

Hans asked: "Sir, where are we going? Should we arm ourselves?"

"Just around the Royal Palace, not venturing far, unlikely to encounter danger, I’m planning to check if any of those Lord Knights are slacking and give a few a good talking to."

Losa ordered.

Combine affirmation with authority.

The new officer burns with three fires.

He planned to select a few as examples to deter others from siding with Count Philip in obstructing him.

The group walked in the Royal Palace,

even in the Royal Palace, it wasn’t brightly lit at night; many places were pitch black except for a dim oil lamp in the corridor.

Losa instructed Hans: "This corridor connects two halls; if anyone infiltrates, this path is crucial. Normally, it should be guarded. Note down and later ask Richard who’s responsible for this area’s defense."

Continuing deeper into the corridor,

the night grew darker, and Losa pulled his cloak tighter, feeling the cold bite of the evening.

Suddenly Hans stopped, speaking urgently: "Sir, I smell blood!"

Hans’s pupils glowed an eerie green in the dark rainy night.

He crouched and pointed to a corner of a stone pillar, under the candlelight, faintly visible was a drop of fresh crimson: "Fresh blood here, left not long ago."

Losa frowned, speaking softly: "Hans, how many do you think there are?"

Hans hesitated.

"Trust your instincts!"

"Around ten, the threat shouldn’t be high."

"Seems we’re lucky."

Losa joked.

This wasn’t due to his misfortune, encountering Assassins on his first day in office, but perhaps Count Philip wanted to show off his strength.

Removing a group loyal to him caused security holes in the palace.

"Fool!"

Losa cursed under his breath; this provided him a reason to kick Count Philip out of the Knight Order, though as a Count, even with such a slip-up, he couldn’t be executed.

"Let’s go, can’t let these Assassins succeed, otherwise my new Grand Master role won’t last a day."

Rain slowly started to fall on both sides of the corridor,

the long-awaited rain finally descended.

Hans led the way,

his werewolf keen sense of smell, even in human form, capable of tracking enemies through the scent of blood.

Soon, Losa heard faint sounds of combat from up ahead.

A heavily wounded knight lay on the ground, one leg severed, bleeding profusely.

"Grand Master, go save Her Highness the Princess, they are Assassins."

The knight, seeing Losa, clung to him like a lifeline.

Losa’s expression shifted.

Reportedly, the elder Hawthorne spent a fortune in Sassanid Persia to acquire a castle he named "Eagle’s Nest," creating an Earthly Heaven.

Filled with countless beauties, feasts, wines.

He adopted children worldwide, trained them as Assassins, and sent them to enjoy the "Heaven" until offering them a drugged return one day.

Upon waking, the Assassin candidates, similar to imprisoned addicts, single-mindedly sought "redemption" to return to heaven.

Thus, they feared no death; instead, death was their aspiration.

They were brutally tough Death Warriors!

Losa disregarded treating the knight, drew his Armed Sword, sprinting forward, chain armor leggings boots spattering mud.

Just passing a corridor, a sharp blade fell on Losa with a whistling rush.

Losa raised his Armed Sword, easily blocking the strike, returning massive force to the opponet.

With a rolling bloodied head, the ambushing Assassin, unseen, was beheaded by Losa’s sword.

The sudden drop in night temperature made Losa’s white breath visible.

Blood Magic, Bloodfall had already activated!