Drink Augustus, the former Duke of Southville of the Kingdom of Loen.
Back then, he had guarded Southville County. Any pirate who dared to land and loot was crushed by him with thunderous methods.
To serve as a warning to others, he even ordered the pirates' corpses to be strung up on wooden stakes and erected along the coastline.
Such iron-blooded actions made all pirates tremble at the mention of his name, no longer daring to casually land and plunder coastal fishing villages.
Times had changed. The current duke of Southville County no longer possessed his father's ruthless toughness. Instead, he only knew how to indulge in pleasure, allowing the pirates to become rampant once more.
Many people, including some members of the royal family, had not seen this legendary former Duke of Southville for a very long time.
He had been living in seclusion on his own estate, keeping a low profile, and had not appeared at any formal occasion for many years.
"Come. The duke wants to see you."
"Yes." Lockhart respectfully followed behind the attendant, heading deep into the estate toward a five-story tower that looked rather unremarkable.
Lockhart finally met this former Duke of Southville of the Kingdom of Loen, Drink Augustus.
He was one of the strongest pillars behind the current king and possessed immense prestige.
After assassinating Duke Negan, he had hurriedly fled here to seek this duke's protection.
As long as he had this duke's shelter, he would be absolutely safe.
At first glance, Lockhart was secretly startled. The duke did not look old at all. His black hair was streaked with a few strands of silver, and his face was clean-shaven, making him appear much younger.
As the former Duke of Southville, his actual age had to be at least sixty-seven or older. Exactly how old he was, very few people knew anymore.
"You handled this matter quite well."
"Thank you for the duke's praise." Lockhart lowered his head deeply.
"Stay here peacefully for now. Leave after the heat dies down."
"Thank you for the duke's protection."
"What is the current situation of the kingdom?"
Lockhart began explaining the present state of the Kingdom of Loen to this reclusive duke.
...
At the Holy Wind Cathedral, a secret message arrived today, claiming that the whereabouts of the assassin who had attacked Duke Negan had been discovered.
The current hiding place was said to be the suburban estate of Duke Drink Augustus.
The source of this information was an informant from the Church of the Lord of Storms planted among wild Beyonders in Backlund.
Most people had long forgotten about the existence of Duke Drink Augustus, so the credibility of this information was extremely high.
But this matter was very tricky. Duke Augustus himself held immense power and was also a powerful Beyonder, and behind him stood the Loen royal family.
If it really was this duke providing shelter to the assassin, it would be hard not to associate Duke Negan's assassination with an order from the king.
This was a major event that could split the royal family and the great nobles!
Once the two sides fell out, the situation in the Kingdom of Loen would become several times more severe than it already was.
"Investigate?"
"Investigate!"
"What if it causes unrest?"
"Then it only proves the incompetence of the Loen royal family!"
"Do we need to inform the king?"
"No need. Take people and investigate directly."
The person in charge of the Holy Wind Cathedral quickly made a decision. Duke Negan had been a believer of the Lord of Storm, and now that he had been assassinated, the Church of the Lord of Storms had a responsibility to handle this matter.
Just as the Church of the Lord of Storms began to act, the Church of the Evernight Goddess and the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery also sent people over.
When it came to curbing the power of the Loen royal family, their stances had always been consistent.
At nine o'clock at night, personnel from the three major churches had already surrounded the former Duke of Southville's suburban estate.
Faced with the aggressive arrival of the three churches, even the reclusive Drink Augustus had to personally come out to handle the situation.
"We received a report that the criminal Lockhart Siakam, who assassinated Duke Negan a few days ago, was seen at this estate."
"Steward, has there been any outsider visiting our estate recently?"
"No."
"Then it seems this is just a misunderstanding."
Drink Augustus lowered his posture somewhat. Although his strength was greater than that of the clergy leading the team tonight, he still had to submit to the divine authority of the three orthodox churches.
"One person can lie easily, but it's very difficult for a whole group to cover up the truth. Your Grace should think carefully before answering that question again."
Faced with such blunt words, Drink Augustus's expression darkened slightly. He looked at his steward and said unhappily, "Have you been hiding something disgraceful from me?"
The steward's body trembled, then he knelt to the ground, slapping his own face while crying and begging, "There was such a thing, but at the time I didn't know that Lockhart Siakam was the criminal who assassinated Duke Negan. Seeing that we had a decent personal relationship, I let him stay in the estate for one night. The next day, he had already left and disappeared."
"Damn you! You actually dared to pull such tricks behind my back!" The enraged Drink Augustus kicked the steward, who was kneeling on the ground, sending him flying into a wooden table and smashing it.
Still furious, he said, "He made a mistake, so naturally he should accept the judgment of the law. You can take him away for investigation right now."
"We will." The person in charge of tonight's operation gave Drink Augustus, who was still in a rage, a deep look, then ordered his men to take the steward away. They also searched the estate once but did not find any trace of Lockhart Siakam.
"Sorry to disturb you. We'll take our leave now."
After the people from the three churches left, Drink Augustus finally put away the anger on his face, his expression turning gloomy.
Lockhart Siakam had only arrived at the estate two or three days ago, yet the three churches had already received relevant information and successfully tracked him here. Who exactly had leaked the news?
Could there be informants from the three churches hidden inside his estate?
Drink Augustus swept his gaze over everyone working in the estate. In the end, he did nothing, his expression only growing darker.
Some of the three-church personnel, who had only managed to catch a steward, were dissatisfied with tonight's gains and began questioning whether this former Duke of Southville was highly suspicious in Duke Negan's assassination.
The person in charge explained, "I naturally know he was lying, and he knows that too. But he has already distanced himself from the matter and made his attitude clear. We should give him some face and avoid escalating the situation."
"So what do we do now?"
"Take the man back for interrogation, then search the surrounding area."
...
In the suburban forest, Lockhart had already secretly slipped away through the back door before the people from the three churches arrived at the estate.
This had been a prepared escape route, meant to avoid implicating the Loen royal family as much as possible.
If he hadn't still had some use, he would have long since been killed by Duke Augustus to eliminate future trouble.
"It seems I need to live deep in the forest for a short while."
Lockhart headed deeper into the dense woods, avoiding being found by the people from the three churches.
As long as he got through this strictest period, someone would arrange for him to leave Backlund. At that time, he could simply change to a new identity and live freely.
Originally, he wouldn't have needed to take such a risk. But somehow Duke Negan had obtained news that someone would assassinate him soon, so he set a trap, causing the real assassin who had accepted the organization's mission to fail.
Fortunately, Duke Negan had also been heavily injured and had not suspected him. This gave him a chance to remedy the situation.
For this, he could only abandon the identity he had maintained for more than ten years and become a wanted criminal.
He still liked the great city of Backlund very much, but unfortunately, he could no longer stay.
Just as Lockhart kept heading deeper into the forest, a sudden premonition surged in his heart. He hurriedly rolled on the spot, then hid behind a large tree.
After hiding for a while, he didn't discover anything unusual.
"Did I sense it wrong?" Lockhart seemed to relax his guard as he stepped out from behind the tree, but in fact he had already set an ambush around himself, waiting for someone to walk right into it.
But after waiting more than ten minutes, apart from the chirping of wild birds in the deep mountains, there was nothing unusual.
He activated his Spirit Vision and swept the area once, but still found nothing abnormal.
"Was I really just being overly cautious?" Lockhart murmured, glanced at the crimson moon in the sky, and decided not to continue traveling tonight, choosing instead to find a place nearby to rest for the time being.
He hid in the fork of a large tree, his body half leaning against the trunk. In his left hand, he held a small knife two fingers wide, and in his right palm, he kept an object shaped like a button.
Even though he hadn't detected anything abnormal, he maintained twelve points of vigilance. In the Beyonder world, warnings from one's own spirituality were often the most accurate.
He would not take risks lightly.
He closed his eyes, pretending to rest. After waiting a few minutes, a wave of pressure suddenly bore down on him, this was suppression from a higher level of existence!
Lockhart hurriedly distorted the space around himself, then activated the button-like object in his right palm. His entire body crossed space out of thin air and left the spot.
This was a precious Beyonder item used to save his life. Even he only had this one left now.
Seven or eight hundred meters away, the moment Lockhart landed, he immediately sprinted forward.
Although he had not seen the enemy's figure, that did not stop him from sensing the danger.
Run.
He had to leave this place immediately and seek the Duke or someone's protection. Otherwise, he would definitely die at the hands of the hunter behind him.