The old man did not seem to be waiting for Henry's reply and continued, "Sirius doesn't want to see an informant extend his tentacles into the Sisyphean Palace. You seem to be meddling a little too much."
Henry narrowed his eyes and spoke for the first time, "You're from 'Cohen's Eye'?"
The old man raised his eyebrows and raised his body slightly as he looked at Henry. "'Cohen's Eye'?
How long has it been since I've heard of this name … "
He seemed to be reminiscing about the past, and then he smiled faintly. His teeth were exposed, but they were very neat, unlike what an old man should have.
"That kid Odittore did a good job. Since you're working for him, I won't say much. Today, I'm just warning you not to stretch your hands too far, kid."
"Kid?"
Henry found it a little funny, but he did not say much.
"Don't try to understand the things in the Sisyphean Palace. Otherwise, I won't give Odittore any face."
The old man raised his arm as if he was moving his joints, and the joints in his body let out a series of cracking sounds. "It's been a long time since I've moved. It's good to exercise. Although I don't have any prejudice against races, this Soul Shackle thing is really disgusting."
Henry's eyes narrowed.
"You think I talk too much?
Actually, I rarely talk so much. "The old man seemed to be teasing him, and his words were a little obnoxious." I can see that your Soul Shackle has been lifted, but Sirius City doesn't really welcome the undead, especially when there's an Adjudicator here. They won't be like me to distinguish what kind of undead you are. "
"Got it."
Henry nodded and lowered the curved sword in his hand, but he did not put it back into the scabbard. He could see that the old man did not seem to be hostile.
If the old man's ability to condense a dark energy shield was used as a measure, Henry estimated that the old man would have broken his limbs if he used his full strength.
The old man did not say anything else and disappeared in front of Henry.
Henry sheathed both of his swords and looked at the air in front of him, thinking about something. He then jumped off the roof and quickly disappeared into the complicated streets of Sirius City.
※ ※ ※
"Lord Marquis?"
"Hmm?"
Marquis Barton stared blankly for a moment, then recovered from his state of thinking. He waved his hand tiredly, indicating that he was fine, then stood up and walked to the dining room.
The Marquis' mansion was luxuriously decorated, but it was not as splendid as Birkins' mansion.
All the decorations here were very exquisite. It could be seen that they were meticulously arranged according to some ancient customs. The oil paintings on the walls all had traces of antiquity. The content was simple and grand. It could be seen that they were all authentic works.
There were even exquisite murals on the roof, depicting countless vivid and lifelike characters and stories. The entire Marquis Mansion exuded an elegant style. From the bronze staircase railings to the heavy wooden tables and chairs, everything told of the mansion's long history.
Marquis Barton had lived here for decades. A stable life did not seem to be suitable for this ambitious great noble. Like many people, he had a strong desire for power.
Of course, this also had to do with his family background.
Marquis Barton had sat in this position for decades. Since he inherited this position, the area of his territory had hardly increased for decades, but the lives of his subjects had improved a lot under his own efforts. Marquis Barton felt that he was very competent. From the perspective of a lord, he had done enough.
Every year, the taxes would take up a considerable portion of the Empire's treasury. The rich territory nurtured a high-quality source of soldiers. Soon enough, the private army of the marquis had exceeded the upper limit of the nobles' private army that the Empire set.
But this regulation did not seem to have any effect on Marquis Barton.
In fact, the rule on the number of private soldiers owned by the nobles was almost a piece of paper. After all, there were too many ways to exceed the limit without anyone noticing. For example, hanging the name of the private soldier in the city's logistics department. The relevant regulations of the Empire had not been updated for a long time. The old system had led to many similar incidents. Marquis Barton's behavior did not cause any reaction from the "old guy" in Sirius City. He knew how to control his "degree" and would not do anything that exceeded the "old guy's" bottom line.
No matter what you play, you must play by the rules.
As an old politician, Marquis Barton knew this very well. So he did things properly every day. From the morning exercises to the noon news reports, he would find someone to record everything. Whether these things were useful or not, Marquis Barton at least expressed an attitude to the old guy in Sirius City. That was, "I am very well-behaved."
Of course, this was only on the surface.
From the outside, what Marquis Barton did could only be regarded as the tip of the iceberg.
The number of soldiers in the territory had long since exceeded the empire's standard by dozens of times, but Marquis Barton was very clever in concealing this. He also found someone to modify the purchase of armaments and military supplies very "realistically" — this marquis' ambition was a bit shocking to say the least.
Usurping power?
No, no, that was something for farmers to do.
Marquis Barton felt that some of the rules of the old guy in Sirius City were too "pedantic" and needed to be "reformed". Of course, the meaning of "reformed" was for him to "reform".
Some time ago, there was news about the Lambas envoy. Marquis Barton sent his own capable men to forcefully intervene, but the result was that they did not return. But he did not feel frustrated because of this. This situation showed that there seemed to be some unusual relationship between Charnak and the Lambas Vatican.
Marquis Barton had been a little busy recently. He had already known about the undead attack, and the defense measures of the entire territory had long been made watertight. But this was a precursor to Marquis Barton's entire plan. Now, all he needed was an opportunity.
The scope of the undead attack did not seem to be too wide. Marquis Barton and the rest of the southern territories were not affected by the undead attack. But sporadic eyewitness reports made the Lord cautiously adopt the method of erecting walls and clearing the fields to avoid the possible casualties of the undead attack.
His reputation was not bad, and this move made his position in the territory rise again and again.
Heroes were born in troubled times, and Marquis Barton believed that he would be the one to walk to the end.
But recently, he had been staring at a few letters from the other side of the empire in a daze.
Sitting at the dining table, Marquis Barton's standard aristocratic demeanor could be said to be impeccable. Even if there was no one around, this deep-rooted habit of his would not change.
The dinner was very simple. It was not as sumptuous as the commoners imagined. It was just a simple coarse grain bread, a few tender roasted chicken chops, and a bowl of hot soup. This was the dinner of a great aristocrat of the empire.
The aristocracy was not as simple as people thought, and it was also not as complicated as people thought.
Was Marquis Barton greedy?
Not really. Compared to some aristocrats of the empire, his daily life could be said to be very frugal. But frugality did not mean that he had no taste. It was not that the marquis did not have wealth. Although his clothing, food, and shelter looked no different from ordinary people, the details were often the best symbol to distinguish between aristocrats.
The knife and fork in the marquis' hand were all custom-made pure silver tableware from the Elven Empire. The dinner plate was also meticulously made by elven craftsmen. The complex patterns on it also described a complete story.
These details were things that ordinary people would not pay attention to.
The whole marquis's mansion did not seem to have many decorations, but each one was not only precious, but also placed in the most reasonable position. Even if the most strict etiquette officer of the empire was brought to this mansion, he would not be able to find any fault or flaw.
His clothes were also carefully thought out. The belt on his waist was not the gold and silver commonly used by the empire's aristocrats, but a dark green crystal commonly used by the aristocrats during the Rondor period. This stone was one of the earliest symbols used to distinguish the aristocrats from the commoners. It could even be said that it was one of the most obvious characteristics of the "aristocrat" class.
On his thumb was a pitch-black ring made from the horn of a grade eight magic beast, symbolizing his power. Other than that, he had no other ornaments on his body, not even a necklace.
Marquis Barton never married and had no descendants.
No one knew the reason why he never married. After all, a powerful aristocrat like him would usually place a lot of importance on his heirs.
As for why Marquis Barton spent his life studying power, that was another story. But at this time, he was not as relaxed as he looked.
Because he was focused on thinking, the knife and fork in his hand were not very nimble, and he stabbed the food several times. His eyes stared at the coarse grain bread in front of him without blinking, as if he was very interested in it.
The weather was getting warmer. According to the feedback from the information, the undead frequently appeared on the edge of the territory. This was not good news for Marquis Barton because these uninvited guests disrupted his plan. But everything was still under control. The letter also made him quickly make a decision. But when he thought of the plan he had prepared for more than ten years was about to be put into practice, the old nobleman always needed to quietly think about every step that needed to be improved. But this was also an extremely exhausting thing. These days, the marquis was very tired, as if he had suddenly aged a lot.
But for his goal, everything was worth it.
Everyone fought around their own goals, whether they succeeded or not, their achievements came from extraordinary perseverance.