872 Intelligence (2/2)
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The next day before sunset, Fernando snuck into the Roasted Fish Hotel and hid in the kitchen behind the counter.
About half an hour after dinnertime, Sharp, who seemed to have a lump on his nose, came alone and threw a sheaf of crinkled paper to Old Green. ”All the details I'm aware of are on it.”
He was no stranger to assassinations, and he knew what files were useful. After all, it was not uncommon for the knights to work with the clerics to kill sorcerers during the rise of the Church.
He snorted heavily when Old Green stared at him without saying anything. ”If you question the veracity of the files, you can test them yourself. I am a customer, not a servant.”
Then, he opened his hand. ”Where's the letter?”
”What letter?” Old Green was briefly stunned.
”The letter to Hathaway. The odds that they fail are very high. If I don't get a letter back from him one of these days, I will never get a letter from him.” Sharp despised Fernando and his colleagues' capabilities just like before. Fernando, who was peeping from the kitchen, clenched his fists in fury.
Old Green took out the letter that was full of answers and gave it to Sharp solemnly. ”You really want to kill Alfonsol?”
He keenly sensed the earnestness and the pretended I-don't-care in Sharp's attitude because they had known each other for years. Fernando, for one, couldn't notice it at all.
”What do you think?” Sharp asked back without giving a straight answer. Then, he took out another letter from his pocket. ”These are Hathaway's questions after yesterday's learning.”
Fernando did not need to read the letter to know what was on it.
After Sharp had a glass of liquor and a roasted fish and was about to leave, he suddenly winked at the wall of the kitchen.
”He discovered me…” After a while, Fernando walked out of the kitchen and said at the darkness where Sharp disappeared.
Old Green chuckled. ”When we were on adventures in the past, he was always best at discovering the hiders. Or maybe he has special tricks. I forgot to tell you earlier.”
Fernando had no time to roar at him. He read the intelligence provided by Sharp carefully.
......
”Based on Sharp's files and other sources of intelligence, it can be seen that Alfonsol is a very tough man who loathes sorcerers. He is rigorous if not ferocious. He's good at battles, with many famous cases. He's very unfriendly to the nobles. It is because of his contradictions with the Violet family that the pope dispatched him to our place…” Two days later, in the underwater relic, Fernando briefed Alfonsol's situation to President Arnold.
Besides them, Douglas was the only person in the heavily guarded chamber. Ramon and Veronica, who were not involved in the operation, had been kept out for the sake of confidentiality.
Arnold browsed through the files and listened to Fernando. In the end, he nodded. ”The intelligence is very valuable. The operation will begin probably in a day or two. You should not go out anymore. Optimize your status and wait for my message.”
”Alright. I haven't noticed anything wrong about Sharp so far.” Fernando tailed and observed Sharp in the past two days. He was rather proud that he was not discovered.
In the next two days, Douglas and Fernando exchanged knowledge and items with other people in the underwater relic like the other sorcerers did, showing no sign that they would take part in an important operation soon. However, when they were free, they did not discuss the exhausting questions anymore but kept themselves ready for battle.
After midnight of the third day, Fernando and Douglas received Arnold's order through Whispering Wind. They left the relic and entered the woods nearby.
”Mr. President is here.” Douglas discovered Arnold earlier than Fernando did.
Before his voice died down, Arnold walked out of the darkness with a grave face; his usual smile gone. ”Alfonsol has left Rentato with at least seven senior-rank red robes and divine knights. He did not ask for the cooperation of the nobles.”
Douglas nodded first, but then he slightly changed his expression. ”This is…?”
It was not until then that he realized that a man covered in a black cloak was standing in the shadow next to Arnold. Vague black mist surrounded the man, making him look creepy, and he was holding a long scythe in his hands. Douglas did not sense the man at all previously!
Fernando was even more surprised. He did not realize the mysterious man with the intense air of death until Douglas reminded him!
”It's my servant of death, a supernatural creature that equals to level nine. It is best at stealth. To be honest, I barely used it before, and few people in the Union know it. However, this operation is too important. I can only bring out my trump card first, hoping that we can finish Alfonsol in one battle…” Arnold's graveness was gone, and he introduced it with a smile. He also told Douglas and Fernando how to cooperate with himself and the servant of death.
Douglas and Fernando both nodded in relief, glad that the president was trying his best without any reserve.
”Let's go to Sherwell County in the north.” Arnold turned his eyes to the north.