Masked Knight

The commanding officer of West Hill City’s Public Security Force was having a terrible headache right now.

Today, something strange happened in the city. A crowd surrounded the God’s church in West Hill City and rioted. The rioters were mostly civilians who seemed to have come from villages and towns neighboring West Hill. The angry mob, clad in clothes made of coarse cloth, surrounded the church and some were even crying out loud for justice.

The whole of Westwood Province was the fief of the Tulip family, and West Hill was the capital of Westwood Province. Being the commanding officer here, he surely would have some capability and not a good-for-nothing.

Once the commanding officer got the news, he immediately rushed to the scene with a team of soldiers, but he realized the situation was nothing of the ordinary.

First of all, the actions of the civilians seemed moderate. They surrounded the church without doing anything violent, just shouting and cursing but did not actually launch an attack. Most of them sat there in silent demonstration, while some went on to preach loudly to the onlooking West Hill citizens about how the religion of God cheated them...

When the commanding officer received the news about people attacking the church, he immediately came here with heavily armed soldiers, but then he found out that things were not as bad as he imagined. It was just that the roads around the church were congested, but the church remained safe and sound. The mob did not seem like they were going to break into the church. The church’s tightly closed doors were not untouched, and not even a single piece of glass on the windows was damaged.

It seemed like the main purpose of these rioters was not to wreck the church, but...just to create an impact!

In the face of the soldiers who rushed to the scene, these people automatically made way for them. The commanding officer sternly requested them to disperse, but the villagers remained unmoved—he, of course, could not order his men to go forth and tackle these villagers.

Right now, Miss Nicole was in West Hill! And Marquis Rody was also here. If there were any bloodshed at this time, the first one to get into trouble would be him!

The use of force would only be a deterrent and not a solution! This was the first thought that popped into the commanding officer’s mind.

However, the wrath of the church bishop would not be easily quelled.

As West Hill was the capital of Westwood and Westwood Province the fief of the Tulip family, according to the Empire’s law as well as out of respect for the Duke of the Tulip Family, the Empire’s army was not stationed here. Hence, the church did not have Flaming Warriors group stationed here too! There were only security forces loyal to the Tulip Family in the whole Westwood Province.

Hence, when confronted with these disgruntled villagers surrounding the church, the Bishop had no way of driving them off. The bishop did not naively think he could influence the angry masses with the power of God. Although he was a powerful magician, when faced with hundreds of angry villagers holding sickles and hunting forks—it was impossible to reason with these people.

The commanding officer ordered his men to guard outside the church, and he brought a few confidants inside to meet the bishop.

"Your Eminence, my men are now guarding outside. There is no need to worry that the crowd will break in for the moment. However, can you please tell me why are they doing this?" The commanding officer’s brows drew together.

"How would I know?!" The bishop’s face was pale due to anger, "I request that you, the commanding officer of the security forces in West Hill, order your men to disperse the mob outside! And arrest their leader!"

"I’m sorry." The commanding officer smiled wryly. "I do not have the authority to do so. You are familiar with the Empire’s laws. Although those people outside surrounded the church, they have not done anything which violates the Empire’s law as they have not launched any actual attack on the church—if they do so, my men will immediately take the necessary actions by force, but right now they are only surrounding the church, yelling and shouting. You know very well that standing on the streets shouting and yelling, though such behavior causes you displeasure, the Empire’s law did not specify what crime it is to do so."

The bishop was so angry that his voice trembled as he spoke, "You are trying to evade your duties! Those people outside daringly besiege the church, this is blasphemy against the dignity of God’s religion! Disrespect to the Gods! According to the code of God’s religion..."

"If so, Your Eminence can go ahead and punish them according to the code...We are soldiers under the direct control of the Tulip Family, not the Flaming Warriors troops of God’s Church!" The look on the commanding officer’s face became somewhat hostile. He did not want to work for the bishop, especially when his future was concerned.

"Bastard! If our Flaming Warriors are here, will I still tolerate the mob outside?!" The bishop was almost roaring. He snarled and said, "If it is reported to your superior that such a thing has happened under your rule, I’m afraid you won’t be able to get away with this! After all, besieging the church is a serious matter, do you think..."

"Very well!" The commanding officer sighed. "I’ll go out and negotiate with them, but if they do not attack the church first, my men will not resort to military actions. After all, they are the subjects of the Tulip Family’s fief; I cannot intensify the conflict!"

The commanding officer immediately went out to negotiate with the villagers, but it was obvious that they were given guidance by somebody secretly. They refused to pay attention to the commanding officer. The clamorous crowd ignored him as they only had one demand: They wanted the bishop to come forward and give an explanation!

The commanding officer knew at once that things were not that simple, so he dispatched his men to ask for instructions from Marquis Rody—since the Duke of the Tulip Family was far away at the Imperial Capital, naturally the supreme leader here was Marquis Rody, the Northern Army Regiment Commander, whom at the same time was the brother-in-law of the Duke.

When Rody received the news, he immediately rode over. The soldiers led the way for him and the crowd instantly parted to let him enter.

Rody frowned as he looked at these enraged villagers. He strode up the steps in front of the church and bellowed, "Quiet!"

He used his fighting energy and his body emitted a light golden flame. With the effect of the fighting energy, his voice rang throughout the place. The crowd soon quieted down and their gaze fell on Rody.

"I’m the Regiment Commander of the Empire’s Northern Army, Marquis Rody of the Empire. Why are you gathered here creating disturbances! I now order that you send a representative to speak to me, and tell me your demands. If not, I will order my soldiers to dispel all of you!"

Rody’s authoritative gaze swept across the crowd.

The crowd calmed down and, a moment later, an old man walked up among the villagers. His hair was grizzled and his face had the imprints of age, but the pair of eyes looked somewhat sly.

He bowed and said in a loud voice, "Marquis Rody, we are from various villages west of West Hill City. Those standing here are all loyal subjects of the Tulip Family!" He paused before continuing, "I apologize for our impulsive actions today, but please believe us. We did not intend to offend the mighty Duke of the Tulip Family. Standing in front of you are a group of angry people conned by filthy psychics, and all they want is justice!"

At this moment, the doors of the church behind Rody opened. The bishop had seen Rody coming from the church’s windows. He heaved a sigh of relief, came out from the church and stood beside Rody.

As soon as he came out, his black robe immediately caused a commotion among the crowd. The people who had calmed down started shouting angrily again.

"Quiet!" Rody yelled. He turned to look at the bishop standing behind him, "You must be the bishop of West Hill."

"Yes, Marquis Rody. Thank you for coming, please order your brave soldiers to disperse this mob!" The bishop’s face was full of rage.

"No way," Rody simply replied as he gazed coldly at the bishop and said in a low voice, "you’ve seen for yourself. There are thousands of them. I do not want my soldiers to cause any bloodshed here."

The bishop’s face changed. He could lash out his anger at a commanding officer, but with his status, when confronted with Rody who held powerful a post as the Empire’s Marquis, he dared not to be rude to him.

Rody ignored him and turned his gaze to the crowd, saying loudly, "All right, now that the bishop and I are here, tell me what exactly you are angry about!"

Once again, the old man spoke, "My dear Marquis Rody, we are originally devout believers of the God’s religion and the Supreme God, but three days ago..."

Although the old man looked a bit nervous, he managed to maintain his composure. He was able to give a detailed account of what happened.

Three days ago, a group of clergies from the God’s religion came to their town. There were about thirty or more of them, all wearing the black robe of the clergy, and among them were two magicians.

These people preached in the town in the name of the religion and gathered the villagers at the town’s square...

"You see, these are the pieces of evidence of them deceiving us!" As the old man was saying angrily, behind him several villagers brought forth a huge shabby chest and placed it in front of Rody.

The box was open, and it was filled with all sorts of weird stuff.

Anger was written all over the old man’s face. He shouted, "Look at this bone! The psychics claimed that this is a sacred bone, and sold it to us at the price of ten gold. And this..." The old man held up a cup made of gold. "They told us this is the Holy Grail, this too was sold to us at the price of ten gold. And this...which we later discovered was chicken feather...They have the guts to tell us that this is an angel’s feather, and cheated us ten gold for this!

"And these atonement talismans!" The old man grabbed a bunch of objects made of paper from the chest. "They claimed that these were blessed by the bishop and sold them to us at one gold each...but all these things are fake!"

Rody looked blankly at these objects, and before he could speak, a roar of anger came from the bishop standing behind him, "This is a frame-up! Slander!"

The bishop’s face reddened due to anger. He bellowed, "I’ve never sent anyone to your town, and I did not...did not commit any fraudulent act!" He shouted angrily, "Marquis Rody! Please order the immediate arrest of these thugs!"

Rody’s eyes narrowed as he looked at him and said slowly, "Your Eminence, he’s not finished yet."

The old man took his time and asked loudly, "Your Eminence, you said we are slandering, but there are so many of us, those of whom are civilians from seven different towns and villages. Are you saying that we have walked dozens of miles just to come here and slander you?"

Rody’s heart thumped and he asked in a deep voice, "Did you just say seven towns and villages?"

The old man answered loudly, "Yes! When we realized we were cheated, we immediately sent some men to go search for those filthy psychics, but we found out that several villages and towns around us were cheated too. Those psychics went around cheating people to gain money. There are a total of seven towns and villages ripped off by them, and a total of two thousand golds swindled!"

As he was speaking, the crowd at the back started yelling again. All of a sudden, the crowd was consumed with rage, and those agitated ones even shouted slogans like ‘Hang the psychic!’

Rody looked deeply at the bishop behind him who was ashen, and then turned to stare at the old man in front of him, "So this is why you all gathered at West Hill? And surrounded the church?"

"All we want is justice!" The old man seemed to be afraid of Rody’s stern gaze, but he plucked up his courage to speak out. He pondered for a while and added, "If our wish is not fulfilled today, then we’re not leaving!"

"Yes! Not leaving!"

"Not leaving!"

The crowd behind roared.

Rody smiled lightly and said in a loud voice, "Okay, I’ve understood what happened. I promise you in the name of the Marquis of the Empire, that I will investigate this matter thoroughly and give you justice!" He paused for a moment before continuing, his tone gradually became stern, "But you need to disperse immediately and go home! You are not allowed to stay here and continue creating disturbances!"

"But..." The old man seemed like he had something else to say.

The bishop, who was standing behind, was reluctant and he shouted in a hurry, "Marquis Rody, you can’t let them go! These people are disrespectful to the Gods, and they even framed the sacred clergies, they need to be arrested!"

Rody stopped him, coldly saying, "Shut up!"

The muscles on the bishop’s puffy face trembled when he saw Rody’s chilling glare. He almost went limp and fell to the floor.

Rody’s hands pressed on the scimitar’s blade hung on his waist. He said in a deep voice, "I now order you to disperse immediately! And then send a representative to go back with me. I promise you in my name that I will definitely give you a satisfactory explanation!"

The old man was a bit hesitant, "Marquis Rody, it’s not that we do not believe you. After all, our loyalty towards the Duke of the Tulip Family is beyond question, but these psychics are too cunning..."

Rody thought for a moment and his gaze suddenly fell on the commanding officer, "Are you the commanding officer?"

"Yes!" The commanding officer immediately bowed and answered respectfully.

"How many men do you have now?"

"There are a total of two thousand soldiers in the public security stations in the whole of West Hill."

"Good!" Rody’s lips curled slightly, "Now I order you to personally to lead five hundred soldiers and guard outside the church starting from today. From now on, without my orders, nobody is allowed to enter or exit the church...and I mean nobody! Do you understand?"

"Ah..." The commanding officer was stunned for a moment, but he immediately sensed Rody’s glare. He clenched his teeth and replied, "Yes!"

"Marquis Rody!" The bishop jumped. "You...How dare you besiege the church of God? Are you trying to keep all the clergies in captivity?!"

Rody smiled lightly, "You’re wrong to say so. I’m just dispatching the men to protect you. You’ve seen it for yourself, to ensure the safety of you and your noble priests, from now on you cannot take a single step out of the church...Or else, I will not be able to guarantee your safety!"

"This is house arrest! It’s blasphemy against the Gods! It’s..." The bishop leaped to his feet and roared, but Rody ignored him. Instead, he ordered flatly, "Escort the bishop inside for a good rest."

The bishop spluttered and howled with rage, "I want an appeal! I want to report your actions to His Majesty the Pope! You will be punished! You..."

"Shut up, you hog!" Rody replied icily. "The Pope? Humph! I’m Marquis of the Empire, I’m only loyal to His Majesty the Emperor."

He cast an impatient look at the commanding officer, "Why are you still standing here? Am I not clear enough?"

The commanding officer’s heart pounded. He immediately unsheathed his sword and yelled. Two of his soldiers went forward to hold the bishop one on each side and ‘escorted’ him into the church.

Rody sneered before turning back to face the old man standing beneath, "Now, can you ask your men to disperse?"

The old man’s face paled. He did not expect this young Marquis to have such courage to order the siege of the church.

But he was still anxious about his mission. He smiled wryly. "Marquis Rody, they are not my men, they are just a bunch of poor civilians who were cheated. But I have some prestige among the villagers, I will persuade them to leave immediately."

"Good." Rody nodded and smile, "I’ll give you two hours. After dispersing the crowd, my men will bring you to the Tulip’s mansion to see me."

When he finished, Rody left behind a few warriors from the Imperial Guards and rode back on his horse.

There was a strange smile on his face. He laughed and thought to himself, ‘Old Skeleton, you’ve played it big. By framing and incriminating, you’re damaging the religion’s prestige among the common folks. Humph, this is certainly ingenious.’