Tome of Blood

"Your Excellency, Viscount, I will give you three months. Within three months, all nobles in the territory must undergo inspection. Any noble who refuses the inspection will be deemed to have automatically renounced his noble status."

"This is the specific content that needs to be checked when examining nobles and the list of files that have been reported by each family. You should also take it back and have a closer look."

Charlotte took out another review document that had been prepared from the drawer, and ordered the maid to deliver it to Viscount Leon-Castel.

Viscount Len-Castel had already been suppressed by the prestige technique blessed by the divine power of blood.

But even so, when he clearly saw the contents of the information that needed to be reviewed, he couldn't help but widen his eyes:

"My lord! This... this... this I'm afraid..."

"Huh? How? Difficult?"

Charlotte glanced at him lightly.

The old Viscount lowered his head almost subconsciously.

Recalling the list of the reported files of various noble families that he just saw together with the censored content, he was silent for a long time, and sighed:

"The subject... the subject took the order, but... the blood clan's whereabouts are secretive, and they are very good at hiding their identities. Even if you order me to investigate, it may be difficult for the subject to find them all..."

"Not to mention, the content of these censorships is almost to check all the family backgrounds of each family. Even if the blood clan behind the scenes loses resistance, if the nobles themselves unite to resist...even if you have the handle of each family, The consequences may be unimaginable."

Charlotte smiled and said:

"You don't have to worry about checking the identities of the blood clans. Since I have entrusted you with this matter, I will naturally assign professional personnel to check your identities. You just need to ensure that all the nobles are checked."

"Your Excellency the Viscount, as the head of foreign affairs of the earldom, I don't think there is any nobleman in the entire territory who is more familiar with the situation of each family than you..."

"As for whether the various families will object..."

Charlotte sneered, and said indifferently:

"If they can be united, let them be united."

"At that time, as Earl of Castel, I will declare that all nobles who resisted are rebellious, and the titles of rebels will be revoked. At the same time, I will call on all nobles to help me put down the rebellion in Castel. Meritorious individuals will have the opportunity to receive these reclaimed titles."

Hearing what Charlotte said, the old Viscount was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer.

And Charlotte continued:

"Of course, it's really not that easy for you to do these things, so... I will also equip you with some more professional helpers, enough to help you deal with those nobles who intend to rebel."

The old Viscount was startled, and couldn't help but widen his eyes:

"Professional help? Solve the rebellious nobles? You... Do you want to use the guards of the direct administration?!"

Charlotte smiled:

"That's not the case. The guards under the direct jurisdiction have their own missions. If the nobles are really united, the guards alone will not be able to take them down quickly. I will arrange for you to be more professional."

"A more...professional person?"

The old Viscount's eyelids twitched wildly, as if he vaguely thought of something.

Charlotte stopped explaining, but bowed her body, looked straight into the old Viscount's eyes, and said meaningfully:

"And one more thing……"

"I know you are a devout and holy believer, but...the situation in the earldom is special. From now on, don't advertise in the territory that I came to Castel to spread the belief of the holy royal court, and don't deliberately advertise that I am The Holy Maiden of the Holy Court."

Charlotte puts a slight emphasis on the words "devotion" and "deliberately."

Facing Charlotte's deep eyes, Leon Castel suddenly had a feeling of being seen through, and quickly lowered his head.

"Okay, I'm done, do you have any questions?"

Charlotte changed her sitting position, propped her chin and smiled.

Viscount Lien-Castle swallowed a mouthful of saliva and sighed:

"Subordinates... are gone."

Seeing the dejected look of the old Viscount, Charlotte smiled again and said:

"Your Excellency, Viscount, don't put too much pressure on yourself."

"There is a proverb in the ancient Eastern countries, the so-called 'one emperor, one courtier'..."

"Although I am not an 'emperor', I am also Castel's master. When you finish this matter, Len Castel will naturally be the biggest contributor."

"And I... will never treat heroes badly."

After hearing what Charlotte said, the old Viscount couldn't help but raised his head and met her pair of deep blue eyes.

Taking a deep breath, he bowed respectfully and said:

"Subordinate...Understood."

After accepting the task of examining the nobles from Charlotte, Viscount Leon-Castle resigned with a heavy heart.

As soon as he left, the window of the study was opened from the outside, and the chubby body of the black cat Nissie squeezed in.

Charlotte glanced at it and frowned:

"Why don't you go through the front door?"

"Hey, isn't it because you are summoning your vassals just now? I didn't want to disturb you, so I went through the window subconsciously."

Nice skillfully rolled onto the table, picked up the snacks on the plate and stuffed them into his mouth, with a look of enjoyment on his face.

Charlotte is too lazy to expose this lazy cat because she is too lazy to climb the stairs in circles, she cuts to the chase:

"Have you finished interrogating Madoc?"

"Look at what you said! We are good at shooting, and we are always quick!"

"Oh? Judging from your tone, it doesn't seem like it took too long?"

"Hey! That's not it! It's fine if there are other people, but it's Maddock. We are most familiar with the taboo magic pattern on his body! There are ten thousand ways to make him speak!"

Looking at Nice's triumphant look, Charlotte recalled the words she saw on the counter-magic spell, and suddenly felt a slight movement in her heart, and asked:

"Nice, do you know the legendary mage Nicholas?"

"Ah? Nicholas? Who is that? I don't know! I don't know!"

The black cat Niss quickly shook his head like a rattle.

That unthinking denial Charlotte was all too familiar with.

As long as this girl is duplicity and has a secret, she must look like this.

Charlotte took a deep look at it, then suddenly smiled and said:

"Speaking of which, I don't think I've ever seen you pray to the god of the contract. Aren't you a devout believer in the contract?"

"Ah... this, Lord Charlotte, you don't know, in fact, I pray to the great God of Contract every day in private... Well, praise the contract!"

Nice cat's face was serious, and it stretched out its paws and drew a balance symbol of Mithra, the god of contract, in front of him, praying solemnly.

It's just that the movements don't look so skilled.

Charlotte watched it quietly, without speaking.

Stared directly at by Charlotte's oppressive eyes, Niss looked away a little guilty.

It coughed dryly twice, the brilliance flashed in the cat's paws, and a roster appeared:

"My lord Charlotte, this is the list provided by Maddock. They are all the nobles and officials in the direct-controlled territory who were recruited and infiltrated by the Ness clan."

As he said that, his expression was a little weird:

"I have to say...it's really not easy for your direct-administered territory to survive until today. Let's take a closer look at the roster, and it's going to be a sieve."

Charlotte: ...

Knowing this guy was changing the subject, I have to say it worked.

Charlotte no longer continued to ask Nice's secrets, but took over the roster and browsed it, her eyelids twitching wildly:

"so much?"

"Hey, luckily, there are almost no blood races in it, and most of the people who are recruited are only marginal nobles and officials of the city hall. After all, your direct territory is the center of the Holy Royal Court in the Northland, even if the priest is pulling his hips, Presumably the Nass clan didn't dare to be presumptuous..."

"So I have to thank the Holy Royal Court?"

Charlotte couldn't help complaining.

But after thinking about it, she nodded deeply again:

"In various senses, it seems that I should really thank the great God Lord for coming..."

"Praise be holy!"

Charlotte also drew a cross on her chest, much more skillfully than Nice.

After finishing speaking, she handed the list back to Nice and praised:

"Good job! Now that we have the list, let's go arrest people. The people on this list... don't let any one go, and all their property will be confiscated! It just so happens that the expansion plan of Beigang also needs a lot of money. This first sum Let the money go out of them."

"Master Charlotte, there are quite a few people on the list, are you sure you want to do it?"

"Do it, of course I have to do it. I'm planning to do it for the nobles. Will I lose the direct control? This is our foundation."

Charlotte said without hesitation.

Nice seems to be quite happy with the word "we", and his tail is even higher with joy.

But at the same time, it has some doubts:

"My lord Charlotte, I know you want to take control of the territory as soon as possible, but that's the problem. You really don't worry about the chaos in the territory when you are so aggressive? I remember you said before that you should try to be as stable as possible? "

Charlotte smiled and said:

"That was in the past. I didn't know what the infiltration of the Ness clan into the territory was like before. Naturally, it was a mouse-hunting weapon, but now..."

Her eyes flickered slightly, and said:

"The Ness clan's infiltration of the territory is indeed serious, but perhaps it is out of efficiency, or perhaps for checks and balances, they have not integrated the infiltrated noble forces..."

"This point can be seen from the reports of the nobles. Even if they infiltrate the nobles, the power they infiltrate is scattered and separate."

"Perhaps it was okay when Earl Lachlan was alive, but once he died, the control of the Ness clan would inevitably be greatly weakened, and it might not be possible to regain control of the infiltrating power, after all... the underground The work is inherently difficult.”

"Since this is the case, I will naturally seize this opportunity."

After finishing speaking, Charlotte touched her chin again:

"Speaking of which, the Duke of Blood would kill Earl Lachlan without hesitation, which is beyond my expectation. A Earl of Blood is not a small character, so straightforward, even if it is said that they have a private enmity I believe..."

"The blood clan uses blood as a close bond. It is surprising to do so. It can only be said that either the Ness clan is hiding a deeper secret, or it is really the Duke who has enmity with the Earl of Lachlan..."

"I reckon, maybe the Ness clan also has its own factions, maybe they are not as united as we thought."

Nice nodded:

"Okay, then I understand, it's just... why did you give this task to Len Castel? You don't really think they are loyal, do you?"

Charlotte took a sip of the sweet milk and said faintly:

"Of course I know that they can't be loyal allegiance, not only that, I don't think that Viscount Leon-Castle is really a devout and holy believer as he has shown, otherwise, he would definitely not be right The Church is sitting idly by in Castres' decline."

"Actually, I think Leon Castel is more like a fool with his own thoughts. Maybe this viscount won't betray me openly, but I'm afraid he's flirting with the Ness clan behind his back..."

"However, it doesn't matter anymore. Earl Lachlan is dead, and the Duke of the Ness clan may not be sure about the power behind me. There is no impenetrable wall in the world. As long as you reveal to the nobles the blood behind the scenes The fact that the Earl has fallen, they will inevitably fall into surprise."

"In this case, the grassroots will often choose the side that is most beneficial to them!"

"Not to mention, the Lien-Castel family is also the weaker family among the three viscounts. It has influence but limited strength. I'm not worried about their family becoming bigger in the process of reviewing nobles... "

Nice heart moved slightly:

"I understand. Similarly, reviewing the nobles will also make their families stand against the territorial nobles. Even if it is a fool, as long as you deal with the infiltration of the Ness clan, they will have to follow you in the future, right? ?”

Charlotte nodded:

"exactly."

"You are really too dark... Well, you are wise."

Nice couldn't help but said.

"Speaking of which, I happen to have something to look for you too."

Charlotte changed the subject, and suddenly looked at the black cat:

"Nice, you should be able to use more than one kind of divine magic contract, right?"

Nice was stunned, and began to play dumb:

"Ah? What are you talking about? I..."

"Do you know how to use sacred magic?"

Charlotte watched it silently.

"I……"

Nice opened his mouth.

"Will it be?"

Charlotte continued to stare at it, intently.

Facing the increasingly oppressive sight, Nice swallowed, and finally answered honestly:

"Okay, more or less."

"What about detecting evil?"

"Uh... a little bit too."

"good!"

Charlotte nodded and said:

"Since you know a little bit, then I will give you another task. After the review plan is launched, you will go with you as an assistant. With a keen sense of smell and the divine magic to detect evil, I think no blood race can escaped under your nose."

"Reviewing the assistants of the nobles?"

Nice's eyes lit up, and the shape of Quintana seemed to appear in the amber pupils.

I saw it straightened up and gave a humane salute, excitedly saying:

"Nice... Guaranteed to complete the task!"

"Okay, report to Viscount Len-Castel after you're done. Remember, you are not only an assistant, but also a supervisor. You can call my name when necessary."

"Obey!"

Nice withdrew after receiving the task.

And Charlotte pondered for a moment, then called the maid Shirley again:

"Shirley, help me get a piece of official stationery for noble correspondence..."

Shirley quickly presented the letter paper and ink to Charlotte. Charlotte picked up the quill and dipped it in the ink. After thinking for a while, she was ready to write.

But after writing a word crookedly on the letter paper, she stopped immediately.

That's embarrassing.

Although she inherited most of the original body's memories, Charlotte didn't inherit much of her writing skills. In other words, even what the original body learned was mostly etiquette, not including these skills.

After thinking about it, Charlotte looked at Shirley:

"Shirley, have you learned to write before?"

Shirley nodded:

"Learned."

"Yes, let me tell, you write."

Charlotte handed over the letter.

Shirley took the letter paper respectfully, while Charlotte pondered for a moment, then said:

"To the honored Viscount Remisio..."

"It has been more than a week since I returned to the territory. The situation in Castel is more complicated than I imagined. The Remisio family has always been friends of the Castel family. As the lord of Castel, I have one thing to think about. To cooperate with you..."

"I don't know if you are interested in accepting employment in your spare time while guarding the Castel Silver Mine, and earning a large amount of extra commission income?"

"..."