The Fourth Book Ice Road 12. Interrogation 1

  Du Fan smiled faintly, extremely angry at Alfred's previous inaction, but he didn't show it intentionally. He said in a low voice: "Lord Alfred, you can be angry, but this man, you can't hit him again. If you kick him a few more times, he might just die on the spot."

  Alfred glanced at Du Fan, his face slightly embarrassed, but he still nodded and said, "Mr. Du is right, however this kid was really too cunning, almost let him get away."

  Dufan said, "If it weren't for his cunning, would so many of us be running around in circles tonight because of him? Alright, I know Lord Alfred is furious. What to do with these four next is up to you."

  Alfred grunted, reached out and picked up Casimir from the ground, and casually sent a burst of holy energy over to him. Casimir let out a pained cry and slowly came to.

  Cassimir's face turned pale, his eyes scanning the surrounding Templar Knights before finally falling on Dufan: "Lord Alfred, s-save me..."

  Du Fan smiled faintly and didn't say anything.

  Alfred's face flashed with anger, and he raised his hand to give Casimir a slap. "I'm standing right in front of you, and you still dare to beg for mercy? Have you never died before?"

  Kasimir looked puzzled after hearing this and couldn't help but glance at Du Fan again.

  Du Fan just smiled and didn't answer.

  A Templar knight nearby couldn't help but glance over and whispered a reminder, "The one you're holding onto is Lord Alfred, as for that other person..."

  He hadn't finished speaking when Du Fan gave him a glance.

  This Templar Knight, although his strength was several times that of Du Fan's, felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar when met with Du Fan's gaze. His entire body felt cold all over, and he almost wanted to slap himself a few times, secretly blaming his own big mouth.

  But Casimir, upon hearing this, suddenly looked enlightened. His eyes gleamed like a knife as he stared at Dufan, his mouth bleeding and mumbling indistinctly: "So that's how it is... So that's how it is... I've always been wondering, you were clearly very clever before, but then immediately became a fool... If you're not really a fool, then you must be a hypocrite pretending to be something you're not... I, Casimir, was blind this time, thinking of taking advantage of you. It's not anyone else's fault, it's not anyone else's fault..."

  Alfred saw that Casimir was ignoring him, and his anger grew even more. He slapped Casimir's face again, causing it to swell up, and scolded: "Duke Duffan is a holy and noble man, pious and loving, how dare you insult him?"

  As he spoke, he exerted himself and kicked again. Casimir's figure rotated several times in mid-air before falling in front of the three Snow Fox mercenaries who were tied up. He opened his mouth, and a mouthful of blood spurted out.

  This wretched appearance, even if Du Fan saw it, had a few points of unbearable in his heart, but he didn't say much, just smiled and looked at Alfred, wanting to know what he wanted to do next.

  Unexpectedly, Alfred didn't even glance at Casimir again after that fall, but instead walked up to Dufan and asked: "Dufan sir, in your opinion, is there something wrong with these few guys?"

  Dufan said: "There shouldn't be any problem, but these few guys staying behind would also cause trouble. It's better to just have you, Lord Alfred, take care of them while you're at it."

  Alfred looked at Dufan's enigmatic smile, feeling embarrassed again. He hesitated for a moment before saying: "Dufan, you should handle this yourself, and also...". His voice lowered as he continued: "Earlier... it wasn't that I didn't want to rescue Lord Dufan, but our mission can't afford any mistakes... so I had no choice..."

  Du Fan sneered inwardly, thinking to himself: "Fine, you can say that, but I won't do anything to you... for now. But you'd better pray that you don't run into any trouble in the future, or else Young Master will make sure you know what it means to die a difficult death. My name is written backwards, after all."

  It was just a thought in his mind, but Du Fan's expression on his face was calm and serene. He clasped his hands together in a praying gesture and said, "For the sake of the God of Light, even if it means giving up my life, I wouldn't have any regrets. How could I possibly blame Lord Alfred for something like this? To be frank, even if I were in Lord Alfred's position, I would make the same choice. So, Lord Alfred doesn't need to worry about it."

  Alfred chuckled and, although he didn't know how much truth there was in Du Fan's words, he understood the principle of everyone lifting the flower sedan chair together. After a few polite remarks, the two of them tacitly changed the subject to other things.

  However, after turning the topic around and around, it still turned to the Snow Fox Mercenary Corps. Alfred didn't know for what reason, but he stubbornly refused to deal with these guys, instead pushing the matter onto Dufan's head. His meaning was that these guys had almost gotten Dufan killed by a magical beast, then wanted to take advantage of Dufan, and most unforgivably, they even let a so-called magician who could control thousands of people come and seduce Dufan. This wasn't just an insult to Dufan, but also blasphemy against the gods.

  So for this kind of person, it's natural that Du Fan, this priest, would come and condemn him.

  Du Fan thought to himself, I'm not a member of the Inquisition, what crime can I possibly charge him with? However, he still had one more thing to ask Kasimier, so he didn't decline anymore. Instead, he ordered several Templar knights to bind these four people and send them to his own tent.

  When Dufan also walked into the tent, Nicholas stood up trembling. After complaining about the weather for a few sentences, he said: "Alfred, why did you let Dufan handle these people? From my understanding of him, he seems to be a kind-hearted person. I'm afraid that later on, his conscience will act up and he'll let these four people go, which would also be troublesome."

  "Sir Nicholas needn't worry about this, I also know a thing or two about Dufan. Although he's devout and loving, he's not that narrow-minded. What I'm thinking is... if he can't bring himself to do it, it won't be good for our journey... If he faces Roland Academy with a hint of luck, we might very well end up in total defeat..."

  If Du Fan heard their words at this moment, I don't know whether he would smile bitterly or laugh loudly for three days because of his acting skills that had been honed over the years.

  Nicholas shook his head, and Alfred quickly took off the cloak on his body and wrapped it around Nicholas. A brilliant aura formed a protective shield that enveloped Nicholas. When Nicholas' complexion returned to normal, Alfred withdrew his aura and said, "Lord Nicholas, this trip has indeed been arduous for you."

  Nicholas's pale face showed a hint of a smile, saying: "If it weren't for conserving my strength, would I be afraid of this bit of cold? It's just that the outcome of this trip is uncertain, and we don't know when we'll run into people from Roland Academy. The more strength we have, the more security we'll have."

  Alfred nodded slightly, and the Templar Knights around him dispersed. Looking at the empty campsite and the fluttering bonfires, Alfred suddenly felt a sense of melancholy, and wondered if the outcome of this journey might not be as perfect as he had imagined...

  Kasimir's body was dropped right in the middle of the tent, his toes barely touching the ground, but he couldn't stand firm, it was really unbearable.

  As for the other three mercenaries, they were casually thrown aside in one corner of the tent, whether dead or alive.

  Du Fan stood inside the tent, pacing back and forth, his expression unchanged. Only Ferre was attending to him at his side, while the other Temple Knights had long since retreated.

  This Ferre's origin doesn't seem to be from a decent family, although he now believes in the God of Light, but some of his previous small tricks haven't been forgotten, this method of hanging people is one of them.

  Du Fan didn't say much either, just taking it as a default.

  Cassim was left hanging there, unable to touch the sky or the ground, and it was truly unbearable. His aura had been sealed by Alfred long ago, and even if he wanted to struggle, he was powerless, and could only keep panting.

  Du Fan looked at him, and after a long while, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully and said: "Your Excellency Kasimier, although we've discussed many topics, there's one topic that we haven't touched upon. You've been deliberately avoiding it. Now, you should be able to tell me, shouldn't you?"

  Kasimir took a deep breath and asked with difficulty: "You... want to know what?"

  Du Fan smiled faintly and said, "Actually, what I want to know isn't anything serious. I just want to know what reason made your Snow Fox Mercenary Group enter the Northern Ice Plains at this time? Although I don't have much experience, I also know that spring in the Northern Ice Plains is the coldest time of the year. If it wasn't for a special reason, we wouldn't be entering the Northern Ice Plains at this time either. So, I'm very curious about your purpose!"