Weaving the Web

After dinner, Frederick went to the stable to feed the horses, while Bellberk tidied up the room for the night.

Burkert came to the stable, and Frederick asked him, "What have you found out?"

"Bosco von Kurei, Duke Kurei's eldest son, is a friend I made when we played football," Burkert said quietly. "After he escaped an assassination attempt back then, he traveled with a caravan to the Duchy of Franken. A childless couple who worked as clerks adopted him. After the Duchy of Franken fell, he joined the army. He's now stationed at the Telegraph Station on Coconut Island."

"Bosco plans to come back after he retires. Father Raum is getting on in years, so he asked me to come here first and find out what's going on."

Frederick nodded and asked, "Did you discover anything?"

Burkert lowered his voice. "I suspect Buksa is a spy sent by the Piaster Kingdom."

"Although he tries hard to hide it during services, little details still show that he comes from a sect on the Piaster Kingdom's side."

"Once a month, a merchant comes to buy and sell goods. A few times, his visits happened to fall on Sundays, and he showed the same tell."

"I recently heard a maid at the castle say that when Buksa spoke with that merchant, they used a language she couldn't understand. One word came up several times: 'Casimir.'"

"I just reported this to the seminary yesterday and asked them to pass it on to you."

By now, every church in the Archdiocese of Rhine had a Telegraph Machine. Old priests like Raum couldn't operate one, so they arranged for a young monk or a priest preparing to succeed them to use it.

Frederick thought, *It looks like Casimir's ambitions in this region haven't faded. He's