Captain – Chapter 254 – Stormy Night

Summer weather was always changing in an instant.

One moment it was a dry, clear starry night; the next, clouds had devoured all starlight. Accompanied by lightning and rolling thunder, a torrential rain poured down.

Raindrops beat against the carriage’s outer walls, creating an intense, urgent sound, like some kind of hurrying.

War horses trod across the increasingly muddy wilderness. Under the escort of “soldiers,” they advanced toward the outline of a small town, faintly visible in the night mist.

That small town was Loriton.

After more than ten days of trekking, on this stormy night of sudden weather change, Roy’s party finally approached this last small town before their destination. If all went well, in a few more hours, the heavy walls of Morton Prison would also come into view.

The carriage window was slightly open, allowing wind and rain to lift the curtains and rudely enter the compartment, disturbing the oil lamp’s flame, which flickered incessantly, threatening to dim and extinguish at any moment.

“According to the assassin we sent to scout, Robert is indeed in the mansion you mentioned, and those traitors who support Tomb Bat are also lurking in the dense forest surrounding the mansion. Therefore, he had no opportunity to deeply investigate the mansion’s alert lines and defensive forces.”

Seeing the young woman attaching the curved saber to her waist—a weapon delivered earlier by a crewman under the cover of the storm and mist—Black Raven unhurriedly shared the intelligence he had recently acquired.

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“Oh? Your men weren’t discovered by those people? It seems the quality gap you mentioned truly exists.”

Picking up the firearm on the table, Roy gently wiped its surface, gazing at the image of the goddess between wind and clouds, as if recalling some pleasant memories, a smile curving her lips.

“How can the organization’s true elites be mentioned in the same breath as those inferior products?”

Black Raven shrugged and continued: “Although those fellows are inadequate in various aspects, they make up for it with numbers. If they keep lurking without moving, combined with the mansion’s own defenses, I’m afraid we’d truly be at a loss. However…”

After checking the short pistol in her hand, Roy placed it in its holster, then sighed helplessly, interrupting the man’s deliberately drawn-out speech meant to create suspense: “However what?”

“However, those fellows abandoned their hiding three days ago, leaving the area around the mansion completely empty. If I’m not mistaken, their destination should be the Garcia family estate, and their targets, naturally, are Naren and Federo.”

Seeing the young woman’s gradually furrowing brow, Black Raven smiled maliciously: “This is absolutely good news for our plan, but you don’t seem very happy, Captain.”

Giving this ill-natured fellow a stern look, Roy patted the curved saber and short pistol at her waist, asking calmly: “No matter how much chaos erupts in Auran, or how many people die, it’s all good news to you, isn’t it, Mr. Shelley?”

“Not necessarily. Take my dear Gloria and that nephew for example…”

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Before Black Raven could finish, the captain had already pushed open the carriage door and walked into the downpour.

The carriage also slowly came to a stop at this moment.

Roy turned back, looking at the man who had opened the window and was smiling, saying impatiently: “I know you have close ties with the Founder, and your nephew will become the future emperor of the empire, but could you stop mentioning them all the time? You never tire of it, but my ears are nearly calloused from hearing it.”

“So, Mr. Shelley, are the organization’s people all in position?”

Hearing the young woman’s question through the rain, Black Raven nodded slightly, smiling as he said: “Since Tomb Bat’s people have withdrawn from that dense forest, we certainly can’t let it remain empty. The stage and audience are all ready; now we just await our protagonist’s grand entrance.”

“But I still must remind you, Captain Roy, although the situation now seems to be tilting in our favor, we still cannot let down our guard.”

“Robert is not an easy man to deal with, and the old fellow standing behind him is extremely troublesome even to me. No one knows when the ferocious tiger of the Auran military—pretending to be asleep—will suddenly open its eyes and spring to attack. At that time, all advantages and odds of winning will become empty talk.”

Through the rain, Black Raven seemed to see such a scene. He narrowed his eyes, looking toward the direction of the mansion, saying flatly: “That said, we don’t have much time. So send him to hell quickly, Captain… the sooner the better.”

“Understood.”

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After leaving these words, the young woman turned and disappeared into the night.

Afterwards, from within the fog that obscured people’s vision, one could faintly hear a somewhat sharp whistle.

“Is the Mermaid in position?”

Breaking through the rain, Roy rushed toward the direction where she remembered the mansion stood.

The cold raven, returning after checking the situation, also flew back to her shoulder following the whistle, calling out against the oncoming wind and rain: “Yes, Captain!”

“Very good.”

Since the location where they had disembarked was already quite close to Loriton, it didn’t take long before Roy, circling the edge of the small town, arrived at a hillside. The dense forest to the south had also come into view.

Looking out, the layers of paulownia branches and leaves completely obscured the scene below, showing only darkness, looking like a lightless sea. Even the occasional flashes of lightning could only illuminate the treetops like the sea’s surface, unable to dispel the shadows deeper within.

And in the depths of that dense forest, the dark outline of the mansion was so clear.

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Gazing at the mansion, Roy did not immediately head toward it, but slowly turned around to look down the hillside.

Looking at the long-abandoned pasture, her dark golden pupils welled with deep nostalgia and some melancholy.

That was the place that had carried her entire childhood, and had also plunged her life into boundless darkness. The hatred and evil buried deep within had all been burned clean by a great fire, leaving only this desolate scene.

“Alfie, do you know? That was my home in the past, and my mother is now buried in the wilderness outside this small town. It has been exactly ten years.”

The young woman spoke softly, her words containing a sadness that the cold raven had never felt from her before. Countless raindrops slid down her cheeks, but it was unclear whether there were a few tears mixed among them.

The cold raven approached her face, gently rubbing its small head against the captain’s eyelids, as if wiping away those tears that may or may not exist. To alleviate that atmosphere it didn’t like, it mockingly called softly: “Crying, crying.”

Lightly tapping Alfie’s head, indicating that it didn’t need to comfort her this way, Roy vigorously rubbed her cheeks, as if unwilling to lose face, and retorted: “This captain would never cry. I’m about to settle scores with that annoying fellow. At that time…”

“It will be his turn to cry.”