Chapter 51: Agitation and the Assassin

"Dear Rayne,"

"Everything is fine here on Salt Island, no need to worry."

"Did you think I would say that so gently?"

"All kinds of big and small matters on Salt Island are coming to me now!"

"Whose net is broken, whose boat is leaking, whose food is running low—they all expect me to step up and solve it!"

"Is Salt Island my territory? I ask you, is Salt Island my territory?"

"I agreed to be your maid, not some territorial bailiff!"

"I am asking you, when are you coming back?"

"Write back to me!!!"

Rayne tossed Daya's letter aside and shook his head.

The Dragon Girl of his past life was just like this; she had to be repeatedly beaten by reality before she could mature, otherwise she would gradually become full of himself.

He would discipline her when he returned.

Currently, in Rayne's plan, there were three fronts that needed to be pursued simultaneously.

First was the Rainforest Peninsula front, which required rescuing as many Lizardmen as possible before the White Walkers completely occupied the peninsula, settling them on Salt Island as subjects.

These Lizardmen, skilled in water and fishing, could rapidly expand Salt Island's overall strength, thus providing solid support for Rayne's subsequent dealing with the White Walkers.

Second was the Imperial Royal front, meaning Rayne starting from his position as Commander of the Imperial Capital Garrison and waving the royal banner to seize more imperial power.

Fighting the White Walkers required the unity of the entire world, and the strength of the world's strongest human empire was undoubtedly indispensable. The original game's main storyline had already proved that counting on these empire nobles whose minds were full of infighting was utterly impossible; Rayne had to do it himself.

Third was the Gem Archipelago front, originating from the High Elf Diamond, who was currently serving on Salt Island. If they truly had to face the White Walkers globally in the future, they must find a way to make the High Elf Kingdom, which loved isolationist policies, join in as well.

Of course, the first two were more important at present, so Rayne still had no time to deal with the Gem Archipelago, and could only let Diamond stay on Salt Island for now and find something for him to do.

The inquisitors and witch hunters detained in the dungeon still hadn't confessed any useful intelligence; whenever questioned, they claimed their superiors had sent them to take over the case.

Rayne believed they were merely clueless pawns, but he still kept them locked in the dungeon to force the mastermind behind the scenes into making a desperate rescue attempt.

Yet the other side had been slow to react, which inevitably caused some concern. A swordsman who hasn't struck a blow poses the greatest threat because you never know what hidden moves they are preparing, and for now, he could only keep his defenses as tight as possible.

Rayne's gaze drifted past the desk and landed on Elrilina standing opposite him.

She was also holding the letter sent by Daya, reading it with intense concentration, as if she were an estranged older sister receiving a letter home from a younger sister...

A fallen elven princess developing familial affection with a simple rural girl—how on earth did I come up with such a delusion?

Rayne banished the strange thought from his mind and continued refining the plan taking shape in his head.

After finishing Daya's letter, Elrilina carefully folded it and put it away, then looked out the window once more.

The Imperial Capital Garrison barracks had been the garrisoned headquarters of the Royal Guard during the era of the Ancestral Elven Empire.

The Royal Guard was a subordinate corps of the Spell-Knight Order, and almost every guard aspired to be promoted to the Knight Order one day. Therefore, whenever Elrilina went to inspect them, these young lads would strive to perform their best, pushing the training intensity to the absolute maximum.

Even a thousand years later, Elrilina still remembered every single one of their young, vibrant faces.

Looking back at the human capital guards outside—their lazy training postures, sluggish and weak footwork, and flaw-ridden swordplay duels—filled Elrilina's heart with an indescribably absurd feeling.

Perhaps, whether it was the elven or human empires, when they reached their twilight years and approached destruction, key positions were always occupied by a bunch of good-for-nothings.

"Lady Elrilina." Noticing the elven princess's gaze, Magus, who was supervising the training, walked over to the window and respectfully asked for instructions, "Is there anything about our training that needs improvement?"

"No," Elrilina said. "Triple the training time."

Magus doubted whether his ears had deceived him:

"Uh, you mean extend the training time to three times the original..."

"If you heard, why aren't you going to do it?!" Rayne's angry roar came from inside.

"Yes!" Magus instinctively snapped to attention. "Loyalty! Honor!"

Watching Captain Magus shouting himself hoarse over there, the capital guards still undergoing training guessed that their captain must have been yelled at by His Excellency the Commander again.

After all, the captain only shouted about loyalty when his display of it was deemed insufficient.

Inside the office, Rayne had reorganized the proposal and handed it over to Elrilina.

It laid out all the regulations for regular troops and auxiliary troops, including how rank systems were divided, how daily treatment was differentiated, and the mechanisms for promotion, evaluation, and elimination.

For ease of daily identification, regular soldiers would henceforth uniformly wear golden robes (yellow), while auxiliary soldiers would uniformly wear silver robes (white).

"Why make a distinction in clothing?" Elrilina asked.

"Are you going to use a favor to exchange for the answer?" Rayne countered.

"No, I won't." Elrilina refused.

She walked out with the proposal, intending to hand it over to Magus, when she suddenly heard a commotion coming from afar.

Before long, a guard keeping watch at the main gate of the barracks trotted over and reported to Rayne:

"Your Excellency the Commander! Citizens are causing a disturbance at the barracks gate, protesting that the South District serial murder case remains unsolved!"

"These ungrateful wretches!" Rayne slammed what was in his hand onto the table and cursed angrily, "Didn't I say the case would definitely be solved within two weeks?"

He led Elrilina to the main gate and saw the capital guards struggling to maintain order, while a large crowd of imperial citizens—outnumbering them by more than three times—was shouting outside:

"Solve the case as soon as possible! Solve the case as soon as possible!"

Rayne swept his gaze across them and found that most of them were female citizens, while the small minority of male citizens were mostly local ruffians and scoundrels, currently stirring up the crowd and inciting the women to voice their grievances.

Obviously, the previous South District serial murders had targeted late-night roaming courtesans, so most citizens didn't feel a strong sense of crisis.

Now that it had suddenly evolved into daytime home-invasion murders, with the targets being full-time housewives working at home, women across the capital were beginning to feel that everyone was in danger. Coupled with the incitement of certain individuals with ulterior motives...

"Elrilina," Rayne lowered his voice and said, "Go wait in the dungeon and see if any guests have come to visit."

Elrilina drew her spear and left.

Looking once more at the angry citizens, Rayne calmly cleared his throat and said in a clear, resonant voice:

"Ladies, please quiet down! As the commander of the garrison, I will never allow a vicious murderer to roam free in the capital! We have already made progress in our investigation, so please give us a little more patience. We will thoroughly solve the case within a few days and bring that damned murderer to justice!"

"To hell with you! It's been over a month and there's not the slightest result!" someone shouted from the crowd. "The capital garrison is a bunch of pigs! Pigs who only take money and do no work!"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Rayne argued loudly. "Please stay safely at home these days, take precautions against lawless individuals, and wait for us to crack the case..."

"Go die, you pig!"

Someone suddenly burst forward and threw a suspicious, unidentified object at Rayne.

Magus, standing beside Rayne, knew that the moment to shine in front of leadership had arrived. With a roar of "Commander, look out!", he lunged forward to act as a human shield.

Unexpectedly, Rayne was even faster. With a duck and a pivot, he immediately hid behind a guard and bolted back into the barracks.

Magus took the unidentified object square in the face, only to find out it was a lump of horse dung. The grassy, pungent stench hit his nostrils straight-on, making him furious as he roared:

"Rebels! Attack them!"

Soon, imperial guards brandishing scabbards and indignant citizens pushing and shoving were locked in a chaotic brawl. Everywhere, people were getting their heads bashed open, with screams and wails rising one after another.

Rayne had already fled back into the barracks, listening to the commotion behind him with a cold, mocking smile.

Trying to ambush me? Naive.

The imperial capital had a long-standing tradition of mob riots, which was especially exaggerated during election times. When the House of Commons elections took place, players would flock in groups to collect money from candidate representatives and then instantly transform into "election hooligans," brawling with rival election hooligans in the streets—a classic feature of the game.

Seeing that the other side had arranged "agitators," Rayne immediately guessed what they were up to and chose to slip away without hesitation.

He walked briskly all the way straight to the dungeon beneath the barracks, only to find that the battle here was already over.

Blood stained the floor, and a pungent stench filled the air. Elrilina stood expressionless, leaning on her spear, while several bruised and battered imperial guards were beating the captured assassins lying on the ground.

Rayne looked toward the corner at the end of the corridor and indeed saw that a corner of the floor had been pried open, revealing a secret passage beneath.

Observing the assassins who had sneaked into the dungeon via the secret passage, he suddenly noticed that one of them was bald, with a pair of thin mustaches on his upper lip and extremely thin lips—resembling precisely the heretic described by the previous victim.

"Are there any secluded places nearby?" Rayne asked one of the guards, "convenient for us to interrogate these criminals without anyone ever finding out?"

The guard thought for a moment and replied:

"Your Excellency the Commander, near the foot of Mount Saint Somar in the northern part of the city, there is a royal icehouse left over from the Ancestral Elven Empire era, which our garrison currently uses to store surplus weapons and equipment—we can take these scum there for interrogation, and absolutely no one will ever know!"

"Good!" Rayne waved his hand, "Send them to the icehouse!"