Shadow Trails in Azeroth

"Well, delicious food after a war can always soothe a soldier's stomach and tired heart."

In the restaurant box of the Lion's Pride Hotel, Duke Mograine ate all the dishes on the table like a storm, and then grabbed a large glass of ale and drank it, and then he groaned in relief.

As the saying goes, a warrior's strength is directly proportional to his food intake.

Judging from this standard, the Grand Duke Mograine in front of him is definitely a hero among warriors and paladins. As Shore watched, the strong Grand Duke ate the food of five adults in one sitting.

Simply the best among big eaters.

"This Western Wilderness stew tastes very good. It is indeed a famous delicacy in the Kingdom of Stormwind. Maybe I should invite a cook here to go back to Northern Xinjiang with me."

The Grand Duke laughed and said:

"My two children will definitely like the taste."

He drank a glass of wine, wiped his hands, and said to Shore, who was sitting opposite him and sipping a glass of ale:

"Well, tell me, Shore, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Shore didn't answer immediately.

He put down his wine glass and used his extraordinary perception to feel the surroundings. After confirming that there were no observers, he took out a rolled-up paper from his arms and handed it to the Grand Duke.

The latter took it carelessly and took a look. His eyes suddenly widened with anger, and holy light appeared in his hands.

He looked at Xiao in front of him and said in a deep voice:

"Is the source of this news accurate?"

"Um."

Shaw nodded and replied softly:

"It was just sent from Northern Xinjiang last night, through His Excellency the Duke's private channel. Obviously, His Excellency the Duke is not willing to accept this commission.

But please understand, Ravenholdt is an assassin organization after all.

His Excellency the Duke can stop it for a while, but he cannot control all the members. There will always be people who accept this bounty that is tantamount to rebellion for various reasons. "

"Then who is the client?"

Mograine looked at the line of words written on the note in his hand. Every character in this line made him unable to suppress the anger in his heart.

His tone was cold, and he clearly had murderous intent.

"I also want to tell you the answer, Your Excellency the Duke."

Shore shook his head and said:

"But let's not mention Ravenholdt's rules. Let's just say that the person behind this commission has hidden himself very deeply. His Excellency the Duke must have been looking for it.

But he gave no information, proving that he also found no clues.

I have reported these matters to the high knight Uther who is guarding Marshal Lothar. Last night, the security force near the hotel was doubled.

I asked His Highness Varian, and he asked me to tell you about this matter. His Highness believes that you are a trustworthy person. "

Duke Mograine is a veteran nobleman. Although he is not keen on these matters of power and supremacy, he also knows that his group of "compatriots" have no bottom line when it comes to their tricks.

Without even needing Shaw's prompting, the Duke turned around in his mind and guessed several people who had the motive to issue this commission, and they were all people with extremely noble status.

This situation makes people very angry, but also very helpless.

It was obviously the sword that Lothar used to fight in the final battle on the Burning Plains, as well as the legendary color of the sword itself, as well as Marshal Lothar's identity and his supreme prestige in the alliance at this time. It was exciting. To some people's fragile nerves

"It's just a broken sword!"

The Grand Duke crushed the note in his hand and said extremely irritably:

"I think they are all crazy. With Lothar's character, so what if he holds that sword? How could a person like him give up his dignity and throw himself into the mud of politics?

They are just asking for trouble over something that has no chance of happening. "

"That's what I said, Your Excellency."

Xiao took a sip of wine and said:

"But we cannot see into the soul, and naturally we cannot understand the thinking of those people. I am not talking about this matter with you to provoke a fight between the great nobles.

I'm just making a suggestion to you.

I have discussed with His Highness, who is loyal to me, and His Highness Varian believes that it is not appropriate to send Marshal Lothar back to Northern Xinjiang at this time. He should be allowed to stay in the Kingdom of Stormwind. What do you think? "

"Yeah, very steady thinking."

The Grand Duke closed his eyes and after a few seconds of silence, he asked again:

"What is the opinion of Lord Knight Uther?"

"The Grand Knight is also willing to stay in the Kingdom of Stormwind until the Marshal fully recovers."

Shaw coughed and said:

"The secret message has been sent to the church headquarters. Your Majesty's reply should arrive in the next few days, but I think those conspirators who are unwilling to let Marshal Lothar continue to live will not let the Marshal stay here forever.

As long as the sword is still in the Marshal's hand, the conspiracy against him will never stop.

With the character of a marshal, he will not let such a provocation go unchecked. He will respond to it and face the questions and rumors openly as a warrior.

My purpose in telling you this is here. "

Mathias breathed a sigh of relief and said:

"The Marshal is in the Kingdom of Stormwind. We can protect his safety, but once he chooses to go back to Northern Xinjiang, MI7 will be unable to do anything. At that time, we will need the support of the great nobles of Northern Xinjiang like you."

"Do not worry!"

Duke Mograine snorted coldly, clenched his fists and said:

“Whenever Lothar wants to return to Northern Xinjiang, let him come back.

If those black-hearted people want to harm him, they have to step over my body first! I will not allow them to do this to a true hero and great man.

I also ask you to protect Lothar on this lost and recovered land.

He is too old.

The duel with Orgrim was too reckless. Although he won in the end, it had a terrible impact on his body. He may no longer be able to swing the sword as bravely as before.

He gave everything to the league, and now it's time for the league to pay him back. "

"This is our duty, Grand Duke, you don't have to worry."

Shore nodded.

A few seconds later, he said:

"Now that we've finished talking about business, I want to talk to you about something private.

A few days ago, I received a piece of information. It is said that you obtained a strange trophy after a glorious victory on the battlefield of the Burning Plains? "

"Um?"

Upon hearing this, Mograine's expression became strange.

He said:

"Is the penetration ability of MI7 so strong? That thing was an unexpected gain after several adjutants and I drank. I don't remember that I brought too many people there. Could it be that among my adjutants, there are also your spies?"

"No, no, no, it was just an accident."

Shore waved his hand and showed the unique puzzled smile of intelligence workers.

He said:

"You can completely trust your lieutenants, they are loyal to you, but the focus is on the trophy. A friend of mine who has researched shadow magic entrusted me to purchase the dark object from you.

He said he would pay you whatever you wanted in exchange for that thing. "

"So generous?"

The Duke stroked the beard on his chin, showed a playful expression, traced his fingers on the table, and said:

“I thought that thing was worthless, it exuded a rather evil aura, and I was frostbitten by the darkness within just touching it.

My lieutenant advised me to throw it away, or destroy it.

I still wanted to take it back and show it to Your Majesty, but your 'friend' was so eager to exchange it for it, but it made me feel that this thing might hide a secret that I hadn't discovered. "

Mograine laughed, slapped the table in a joking tone, and said to Xiao:

"As the Grand Duke of Lordaeron, I don't need money. My territory is big enough, I have a family I love deeply, and I have my beliefs.

Look, Shore, I don't need any payment from your friends.

His offer was unattractive to me.

So I decided that I would keep this thing and study it slowly, just to satisfy the boring curiosity of a great nobleman. "

At this point, Shore already understood that the Grand Duke rejected this transaction.

He didn't try to persuade him any more. Black made it very clear before leaving. If the Duke was unwilling to change, then let him go. There would be another chance to get it in the future.

Thinking of this, Xiao felt that he should perhaps remind the Grand Duke that he should upgrade his anti-theft capabilities.

But the reminder remained unspoken in the end.

After politely bidding farewell to the Grand Duke, Shore left the Lion's Pride Hotel, mounted a horse, and galloped in the direction of the North County Abbey, but did not go to the sacred place.

Near the monastery, they entered the forest, bypassed the dense forest, and finally came to a small manor.

He walked into the manor and saw Pasonia Shore, who was lying on a chair and taking a nap like a sleeping old man basking in the sun.

Mathias did not disturb grandma, strolled forward, picked up the fallen blanket from the ground, and gently covered grandma's legs with it.

"Your footsteps are too heavy. Are you too tired?"

Pasonia, who was basking in the sun with her eyes closed, seemed to have aged much suddenly, suddenly asked.

"I just wanted you to hear it so I wouldn't scare you."

Under the sun, Xiao moved another chair and sat next to his grandma. He reached out to hold her remaining right hand and put it in his hand.

This scene was extremely warm, as if the mother-in-law and grandson were telling each other about the beauty of their family ties.

The premise is that if one ignores the poison-quenched dagger that Xiao Er's grandmother hid under the chair and the dagger that Xiao Er holds in her other hand, the relationship between the mother-in-law and grandson is too damn twisted.

"Are you still adapting to retirement life? Grandma."

Mathias asked gently.

"It's a good life."

Silver-haired Granny Xiao rested her head on her grandson's shoulder. She yawned and said in a lazy tone:

"It's so comfortable that I almost killed the three rookies you sent to monitor me last night. To be honest, my dagger was less than three centimeters away from their necks.

How do you pick people? Mathias, are you deliberately letting such a newbie hang out in front of my eyes for fear that I will be bored? "

"I sent four people."

Shore said softly:

"It seems that there is finally someone qualified. Besides, grandma, they are not spying on you, they are protecting you."

"Do I need their protection?"

Granny Xiaoer sneered and said:

"I'm thinking about whether to accept that commission. My precious grandson, Lothar, is very close to me. Maybe he only needs one draw of the knife."

"Don't be ridiculous, grandma, you're not good at this."

Mathias stroked his grandmother's already trembling hand and placed it on his heart.

He said softly:

"You have served the Alliance all your life, and you have your own bottom line. Isn't that why Ravenholdt's group of legendary assassins have always despised you?

You are a hero.

No matter how much they slander you, you are my hero.

Just spend your remaining years in the place where grandpa is buried. I will protect you, just like you protect me. You don’t have to worry about Marshal Lothar.

The enemy is hiding in the dark and has launched a provocation for war.

But we are also in the dark. This is a war in the shadows. I am preparing for this war. I believe that I will never walk alone. They will see for themselves my power.

The kind of power that is destined to change the world, and has already begun to change the world. "

Upon hearing this, Granny Xiao fell silent.

After several minutes she said:

"I'm not worried about you, Mathias. It's not that I'm worried about your skills, nor your mind. I'm just worried about the 'bad friend' you've made.

Black Shaw, or Derek Proudmoore, the ghost who rose from the dead. I couldn't figure out what he was going to do, and it made me feel uneasy.

Playing with him is like dancing with a poisonous snake.

He will teach you bad things. "

"Don't be afraid, grandma."

Shaw closed his eyes in the sunshine, feeling the warmth on his skin, and said softly:

"I've always been slow to learn things."