The plan was eventually scheduled for the fifth day. As he watched Ralph and the Night Owl Squad earnestly preparing, Lyle felt somewhat bored.

"You’re not the only one left out, Lyle," Echel said with a smile, sitting down opposite Lyle, "Reed and I are also outside your Uncle Ralph’s plan, although we are also quite frustrated. From another perspective, we actually carry the greatest responsibility. We need to make sure that the entire plan isn’t subject to any unexpected interference and is executed flawlessly."

Just as Lyle was about to be persuaded by Echel, Reed let out a muffled groan. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"This is how you console yourself when you’re excluded from the poetry chanting team at ’Twilight Memories’, isn’t it? The nonexistent link in support, a pretty excuse."

Even though the two kings had already shown their sincere friendship toward each other, sarcastic jibes were still the most frequent social interaction between these close friends.

Ignoring the increasingly intense verbal spar, Lyle stealthily integrated himself into Ralph’s meeting.

"...After the messenger makes another visit to the queen, Zhen and Parrot, assist me in taking down the messenger; Skylark and Nightingale are in charge of lookout. Swift and Crow keep an eye on the masked knight’s location, and after I meet with the masked knight, you can leave, coordinate with Zither Bird and Crow to infiltrate another storage point, and check the situation with the supplies. Zhen and Parrot watch the messenger, while Skylark and Nightingale support me from the outside."

"Now, begin the operation."

At the Dreya royal tower, as the white-robed Devonrayla messenger appeared in the sunlight, several pairs of eyes were already watching him.

"Zhen."

A woman with an aromatic scent appeared in the streets of Dreya, her exotic, simple fabric capturing the attention of the surrounding crowd, and a disturbance began to arise around her.

The messenger frowned, the woman and the restless crowd blocking his intended route, and, with an irritable mood, he took another alleyway.

"The messenger has entered alleyway three, Parrot."

The commotion caused by hormones had started, and even the nearby messenger was jostled by the crowd surging toward him.

He patted his shoulder which had been touched by a stranger and continued on.

A figure was following right behind him, mirroring his every step. Ralph lowered the brim of his hat and slowly closed in. Among the crowd, he slung his arm around the trembling messenger as if they were friends.

"Begin retrieval."

On the other side, the Night Owl Squad huddled in the shadows, watching that backlit cellar entrance.

Crow Grael spoke up, "I’ll go in."

"No, you’re a dead man right now, lacking keen senses, and you might not detect the problems inside." Zither Bird took off the necklace around his neck, the pendant which was also a bird whistle. "I’ll go in, and I’ll use bird-like whistling with our usual signals to inform you of the situation. Help me distract those knights."

"Alright."

Ten minutes later, the "messenger" emerged from the alleyway, continuing towards the church basement.

The masked sentinel, acting as a secret sentry, watched as the messenger slowly approached, scanning him with their gaze.

A coin flipped in their line of sight.

The knights withdrew their attention, opening the gate casually as if they were uninvolved bystanders, ignoring the messenger passing by them, disappearing into the deep stone tunnel.

The basement under the church, contrary to what he had said, wasn’t a storage point for supplies.

Pushing open the thin wooden door, the messenger entered a dimly lit small room, where the enveloping darkness seemed like monsters ready to devour any innocent comer alive.

As his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, a chill wind scoured everything inside the room. It wasn’t the room that was crowded, but the people within it.

Twenty masked knights stood against the walls’ shadows, like cold stone sculptures, their sinister gaze fixed on the messenger.

The messenger acted as if he were accustomed to all this, paying no mind to the knights but staring directly at the person before him.

A man in his mid-thirties to forties was sitting in a high-backed chair, smiling at the Devonrayla messenger. He was wearing ragged black armor, covered with strange cracks as if marred by wild beasts’ fangs and claws. Those eyes, filled with madness, glinted dangerously in the dark, reminiscent of a lion ready to pounce.

A soldier, an arrogant veteran of many battles. His pride and arrogance might require some changes in the equal relationship with Devonrayla.

The voice emitted was like a suppressed roar, the lion let out a growl.

"You are late, ’honored’ messenger."

The mocking and sarcastic greeting, while still maintaining the facade of equality with Devonrayla, so...

"I am well aware of my timing, ’my lord’, I hope you still remember your duties." When the stressed "my lord" was uttered, the smile on the Knight Commander’s face became noticeably more "brilliant."

"That feeble family actually produced someone like you, hmm, a backlash, I suppose. I am even more interested in Greda Devonrayla behind you now." The Knight Commander scratched his hair, asking the messenger impatiently.

"So, your plan, how much longer must we squat here? Or is it that your master, aside from this nation, also covets that queen?"

The scheme to seize Dreya, Devonrayla’s plan.

The masked knight wasn’t just squatting here by his own choice; it was an arrangement by Devonrayla. Meaning, there was no need for the messenger to secretly meet with the knight, as everything had been planned in advance.

So, why did he still pretend to come and meet with the masked knight every day?

Ralph’s eyes widened, for deception.

To deceive the hooked fish.

The Rangers of Liveser were the fish they wanted to catch.

The other storage point was a trap.

The ones spreading negative rumors about Liveser in Dreya were these people. They were inciting the discord between the two nations. As long as they caught a spy from Liveser, the casus belli would conveniently arise. No, there was still a missing spark.

The founder’s tomb of Dreya, the special funeral customs of Liveser, the stolen corpse, the desecrated forebears.

To annihilate Dreya’s sworn enemy, Liveser, win the hearts of the people, and thereby seize the entire kingdom.

This was the plan of Devonrayla.

In that case, there was more than one trap.

The messenger stood still, watching the Knight Commander smile and gesture, as the towering knight immediately blocked the door.

This side, too, was a trap.

The Knight Commander extended his hand, pointing at the "messenger", "I personally have quite a trust in Mr. Messenger, but still, we must follow protocol. Sir, you need to prove your identity."

"Yes, the questions we set in advance. Answer them, and I’ll let you return intact, sir."

"Your comrades, we, where do they come from?"

The imposing knights, the sense of crisis given to the rangers, could suppress Liveser’s rangers by force and, possibly, were even the main force planned to annihilate the Liveser Kingdom.

The intelligence was still insufficient; more thought was needed.

Right, what was in it for these knights? They provided resources beyond the level of families to help Devonrayla earn trust and eventually take over the kingdom, while also exerting effort to destroy Liveser. What could be their benefit? A force that could sustain a nation, a force that could destroy a nation, what do they still need in the transaction?

Liveser, the barbaric nation that betrayed the Holy Light...

Of course, the benefit the knights sought was the annihilation of Liveser itself.

The messenger looked at the Knight Commander, raising his head.

"It is said that the Holy Light Church has secretly raised an army, a Legendary Legion specifically meant to exterminate heretics. The countries that know of its existence, even when on the verge of collapse, would not forget their tributes to the Church. For they fear the Church’s dark blade might turn against them."

"Am I right?"

"The dark blade of the Holy Light."

"Legion Commander of the Inquisitors."