Cthulhu Gonfalon

According to Satan’s introduction, Knight Parne lived in the West District of the Golden Tower City. There were settlements of adventurers, subordinate aristocrats, and low-level mages, all of whom were generally capable, had extensive connections, or were well-to-do, but would not find it easy to climb up further on the social ladder. In the view of the earth, they were the so-called ‘middle class.’

The West District kept good social order with guards in the patrol. Pickpockets or tramps couldn’t be seen. Compared with the East District, where they entered the city, the situation here was much better.

Knight Parne’s address was the Dendrobium Street in West District. This world had no concept of house numbers, so the exact address couldn’t be made very clear.

Of course, it was hard not to confuse veteran adventurers. Ray had always believed in the word-of-mouth approach, so he randomly looked for a seemingly kind guard and took out two silver coins. With a smile, he said, “Industrious patrol, could I invite you to a drink?”

The guard stopped and looked at the silver coins with a smile and replied, “Those could buy a bottle of wine; what do you want to know? I’m just an ordinary soldier, and I do not know any special information.”

Ray handed the silver coins straight to him. “I have a fortunate friend, who is working in the territory of ​​a nobleman. That gentleman practices martial arts all day and doesn’t care about his administration, so he is looking for someone to help him take care of miscellaneous things. My friend recommended a knight named Parne living here. Do you know where he lives?”

The guard froze for a moment, sighed with regret, and said, “You’re late. Knight Parne passed away.”

“Ah, he was very healthy when my friend came by a few years ago!” Ray was startled and quickly asked, “Why did it happen so suddenly?”

The guard hesitated for a moment. He looked around and whispered, “It’s inconvenient for me to tell you. Go directly to his house and ask, as his family is easy to recognize. There are two rows of marigolds at front of the gate.” Finished, he turned away, not willing to stay even for a moment.

Ray secretly frowned, but didn’t show it on his face. He went to look for Knight Parne’s house according to the guidance of the guard.

In the meantime, Sui Xiong, who was far in the four northwestern towns, had found Satan who was busy.

“What?! Parne died?! That’s impossible!” Satan exclaimed in a loud voice. “He is in his prime and is a senior soldier. There is no reason for him to die suddenly!”

“I’m tracing it, and I’ll know the reason soon.”

Satan lowered his head, his hood covering the anger on his face. “Your Majesty, if he was killed, please allow me to take a day off to get revenge on his behalf!”

“Oh, did you have a good relationship with him?”

“When I was abject, it was he who helped me,” said Satan. “Without his help, I might not have been able to leave Golden Tower City. At the time I was penniless and couldn’t afford food, let alone the fare for travel. He took care of my life and helped me to contact a group of adventurers determined to leave the Confederation of Mifata, and helped me forge some of the necessary documents… I was able to safely leave with his help. Later, I went to The Duchy of Ray to live for some time, travelled to the Commonwealth of Gold Coins by boat, and finally arrived at the four northwestern towns.”

Sui Xiong nodded slightly. “It seems that this person was very good, right?”

“Yes. He was a noble who believed in the God of Knights. He insisted on mercy and fairness, and was very keen on doing things according to rules and laws. He was eager to help those who really encountered difficulties, so he was prestigious in the Golden Tower City. Parne was a respected gentleman who usually mediated conflicts among various forces in the middle and lower levels.”

Sui Xiong secretly sighed, and lamented such a man dying so young.

As Sui Xiong was in contact with Satan, Ray had already found the home of the Knight Parne according to the instruction of the guard.

It was a rather beautiful little western-styled house, showing that the owner had good financial resources. In front of the house, two rows of marigolds exuded a warm golden light in the sun, making people feel the warmth in their hearts. However, when one looked closely, they could see that the house was very old, and that many places needed repairs. Perhaps the owner’s current financial condition was not satisfactory.

Suddenly, Ray frowned, looking at a scratch in a corner. It was a small pothole with a slight bulge in the middle, which at first glance seemed harmless. But being an expert combatant, when he realized what it was, he found it somewhat shocking.

This was the trace left behind by a crossbow arrow; a crossbow arrow that had been completely shot into the wall! Although the crossbow arrow vector was not long, if you wanted to shoot a crossbow arrow completely into the wood wall, you needed extraordinary power. To do this, what was needed was definitely not an ordinary crossbow, but a special heavy crossbow.

This heavy crossbow could easily penetrate a knight’s body armor; even a shield might not block it. As long as one was trained for a period, even a rookie just entering the area could use it to kill powerful fighters. And if the right enchantments were used on the crossbow or crossbow arrow, it could even penetrate the protective spell of a powerful mage and kill him.

Not only was this expensive, but the production and transportation were also subject to strict controls. Ray remembered when he was a prince, he had only seen a few crossbows inside the strictly-guarded arsenal. Later, one of them left a life-lasting impression on him.

“Your Majesty, Knight Parne’s death may really be a problem,” Ray quietly reported his findings to Sui Xiong through the soul contact.

Sui thought for a moment and said, “No matter what the problem is, we have to meet his family face to face. We have come here, so let’s talk about other things after we speak with his family in detail.”

Ray nodded, took Steele to the door, and knocked. The door opened after only one knock.

“Why are you here making trouble again? The agreed repayment time has not arrived yet!” A red-haired girl holding a sword emerged, accompanied by an angry roar. Clearly she was well prepared to fight an enemy, but it was not her enemy that came.

“Um…I’m sorry, I made a mistake.” When she saw two totally unknown visitors, the girl suddenly realized her mistake, hurriedly returned the sword to the scabbard, and blushed.

Ray slightly smiled and greeted her in an aristocratic way with impeccable elegance. “Please pay no mind, as no knight would be angry with such a beautiful lady.”

The girl’s face suddenly turned redder.

“I’m Ray. This is my friend, Steele. We were commissioned by mage Satan to invite Knight Parne to be an administrative official in the Explored Territory.” Ray smiled, and asked—although he knew what she would answer—”Is this Knight Parne’s house?”

The girl was stunned, and she stared blankly at the smiling Ray and Steele, confirming their identities from their aristocratic etiquette, which could only be possessed by special training. However, tears shone in her eyes.

“My father is dead now.” She strove to make herself look strong, to keep her voice from trembling. She worked hard to hold back tears and keep them from falling. “You are so kind, but I am very sorry!”

Ray pretended he just got the news, gasped lightly, and asked, “Knight Parne passed away? But Mr. Satan said he was an outstanding knight. He said that although he usually made a living by copying and teaching, his martial arts were not inferior to mine; forgive me, I could hardly imagine a knight like me would die in his forties… May I take the liberty of asking what led to his death? Disease or injury?”

The girl kept silent for a long time. She lowered her head and whispered, “It had nothing to do with you. In short, my father died, and it is impossible for him to go to your territory as an administrative official. Please go back.”

Ray quietly tipped Steele off with a wink. Steele immediately said, “Then there is one more thing we have to do. Mr. Satan owes Knight Parne a big favor, and he is doing very well now, but he is busy with his work and cannot come here. Knowing that we were going to visit Knight Parne, he especially prepared a gift and asked us to bring it to you on the way.”

Her words successfully attracted the attention of the girl, who waved her hands. “Gifts? That’s so kind of you, but there’s no need. My father never expected anything in return for helping others!”

“Please—this way we feel embarrassed.” Steele smiled gently, and behaved elegantly as a spring breeze. The girl couldn’t help but come away with a good impression of her. “Mr. Satan has a high status in the territory, and he usually takes care of us as well. We need to help him with whatever he commissions us to do, for reasons of either emotion or justice. It is just a gift, so please do not decline goodwill coming from thousands of miles away, okay?”

Although it was in the form of a request, Steele’s gentle temperament made it difficult for people to refuse her pleas. Men and women alike, as long as they were not hardhearted veterans, couldn’t refuse Steele’s kind face. Of course, the girl could not, either. She hesitated for a moment then invited Ray and Steele in. Then she hurriedly closed the door and dropped the latch.

“What? Are the law and order in this city poor? Why do you also have to lock the door in the daytime?” Ray said, showing an appropriate amount of surprise.

The girl gave an awkward smile but did not answer. Obviously she did not want to mention some issues.

The two followed the girl in through the door, but before they could sit down, they heard a sharp voice from upstairs. “Sister, have those horrible people left?”

The girl laughed, even more embarrassed, and hurriedly apologized to Ray and Steele.

Of course, they did not mind such a thing, brushing off the embarrassment with a laugh.

Then, they saw two people from upstairs: Mrs. Teague, Knight Parne’s wife, and his second daughter, Nice.

As for Knight Parne’s eldest daughter, Liv, she must have been that somewhat rash girl.

Mrs. Teague had a distinctly elven character. Presumably, she was a person of mixed race between an elf and a human; the so-called half-elf. The eldest daughter, Liv, was obviously predominantly human. No elven features could be seen on her. The second daughter, Nice, was more similar to her mother. She had slightly longer, pointy ears, and silver hair that seemed to glitter. It was evident that their bloodline was the relatively rare elf of moon.

After they greeted everyone, Ray took out the space bag and took “Mr. Satan’s gift” out. It was a set of beautiful dazzling porcelain, as well as a bag of valuable gems.