"Oh?"
Antiya Lisi raised his head, his gaze revealing undisguised confusion.
The middle-aged legion commander in front of him, who looked more than ten years younger than himself, seemed to have an unruly and arrogant personality. How could he possibly say he wanted to apologize?
"Commander, please speak frankly."
"It's nothing really, I just feel sorry for misjudging you when I entered the city."
Marba bowed deeply and said:
"I originally thought you had lost control of Fir City, but last night I learned of the existence of the Treant Hunter and even clashed with them head-on. After much thought, I have to admit that these beings at the pinnacle of the Low Tier are a force not to be underestimated."
"Although they differ due to the different types of Symbiotic Tree, each of them is comparable to a dozen elite soldiers in terms of physical toughness alone. Apart from their seemingly poor mental abilities, they have no other weaknesses."
"However, it obeyed your orders with unwavering resolve. Even after I broke most of its branches, it did not die and even tried to attack me, all because I violated your curfew order."
"No wonder you were so generous in handing over half of the Holy Crusaders to me; it turns out this was your trump card."
"You flatter me. They have no trump cards to speak of; they're just some guards."
Upon hearing that this was the matter being discussed, Antiya Lisi's expression returned to its previous stern demeanor.
"But please forgive my bluntness..."
Marba's tone suddenly turned serious:
"These Treant Hunter are your private army, am I right?"
No, you're wrong.
Antiya Lisi put down his pen, raised his head, and said seriously:
"Even though we are both Stained Ones and serve Lord Sailesi, you cannot fabricate such a crime against me."
"Then how do you explain these organized, controllable monsters that have never appeared in the Holy City before?"
Antiya Lisi said expressionlessly:
"They're just some experimental byproducts."
"What a wonderful byproduct of the experiment."
Marba looked at Antiya Lisi with the same disdain one might have for a treacherous minister:
"They had better be able to play a role in the battles to come; otherwise, I will write everything down in my report to Lord Sailesi."
Hearing these words, which were almost tantamount to a threat, Antiya Lisi's expression remained unchanged; he simply nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry, 'Legion Commander,' we're in the same boat."
The smell of gunpowder gradually dissipated in the air, and the tense atmosphere between the two men began to intensify.
Marba thought for a moment and asked:
Is there a way to prevent the Treant Hunter and my potential patrols from interfering with each other?
Antiya Lisi remained silent for a long time before finally yielding a small step:
"I'll add a rule: individuals wearing Holy City- style robes will not be counted within attack range. You can have your subordinates pay more attention to their attire."
Just then, there was another knock on the study door.
Antiya Lisi gestured for the person to come in, only to find that there was more than one person standing outside the door.
There were two people outside the door: one was the assistant bishop under Antiya Lisi, and the other was the squad leader under Marba. They clearly had something to report to each of them.
Two anxious-looking people entered the room and stood on either side of the two men, both appearing hesitant to speak.
Marba and Antiya Lisi knew that this was something private to report, but the tension between the two men had clearly been noticed by them, so they didn't know how to start.
Thinking of this, Antiya Lisi, who wanted to ease tensions, waved his hand and said:
"Since you've come to me, it's all business, and there's nothing wrong with discussing business."
After saying that, he looked at the assistant bishop, clearly wanting the other to speak.
The younger priest pursed his lips, and finally said:
"Your Excellency, last night... a Treant Hunter was killed in an alley. It was... it was that priest you converted before who made a mistake."
Upon hearing this, Antiya Lisi's brows furrowed noticeably.
Clearly, as Marba said, each Treant Hunter is a powerful being in a normal battle, and killing Treant Hunter is not easy without the intervention of Middle Tier or higher combatants.
Even though the priest had been a tree-man for less than a week, his combat strength was no different from that of an ordinary tree-man because of his excellent foundation.
The Tree People have dominated the nights of Fir City for a month now, and there have been no deaths, only occasional injuries.
So who exactly is it?
Could they be rebels?
How could there be someone among the rebels capable of killing a tree spirit?
Could it be that Duolin's elite henchmen have also infiltrated Fir City?
Sensing the somewhat tense atmosphere, Marba gestured for the squad leader to speak, and the squad leader then continued from where the assistant bishop left off:
"Two soldiers from the former Second Order of Knights, who were incorporated into the legion, are missing. A search has begun."
Missing?
Now it was Marba's turn to frown. He looked at the squad leader and asked:
"When and why did you go missing?"
"Last night, some rebels attempted to set fire to the Second Order of Knights' new encampment. Some soldiers, in a fit of rage, chased after them too far, and when they returned to count their men, they found two were missing."
So it was last night?
Marba was equally puzzled, because he had confirmed the death of [ Dark and Heavy Secret ] through [ Mysterious Goblin ] when he left the Soul Returner' stronghold.
According to the [ Mysterious Goblin ], his valiant companion has returned to Hall of Heroic Spirits, back to the embrace of the Tree God.
Unless the other party has already seen through your disguise, they can't think of any reason to deceive you.
But why, why would such a illogical situation occur?
If the rebels defeated two Holy Crusaders, then the [ Mysterious Goblin ] would naturally not claim that the enemy was dead.
If the Holy Crusaders were to win, the rebel corpses would naturally be brought back to their camp.
But now, people on one side are confirmed dead, while people on the other side have been completely nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead.
It's impossible for both sides to just happen to die together at such a convenient time; that would be too much of a coincidence.
Marba couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation after thinking it over and over. He looked at Antiya Lisi and said:
"It seems we both have our own things to do, so I won't bother you any longer."
The archbishop nodded and gestured towards the study door, indicating that he would take his leave.
After leaving the cathedral, Marba quickly turned her attention to other matters. The fire set by the rebels the night before had finally been extinguished, and the Knights Holy Crusaders, who had not slept for forty-eight hours, were now filled with resentment.