At first, Osric thought the message came from Fiona. But after reading through the contents, he realized Lira had sent it.
In that message, Lira briefly explained her decision to stand up against Emperor Euan. Osric regretted learning about her movement because if they had known Euan was already aware of the Crown Princess's plans, they could have changed their strategy accordingly.
Regarding Deputy Marshal Mannick taking Euan's side, Osric was somewhat surprised. He did not expect that army Blacksheep to be a patriot.
Anyhow, Osric was then angered after learning the suspected new 'Dark Sage' killed Fiona. The latter might be an illegitimate member of the Boyd Family, but she was still Ingrid's half-sister. She did not have any magic talent, but her talent in espionage made up for it.
After that, Lira explained that she was caught and lost consciousness. When she regained consciousness, she found herself inside a dark cell. Initially, she did not know where she was, but she soon realized she was in the Tower of Conclave.
Lira discovered it by chance when some people visited the ones guarding her. They thought she was unconscious and did not bother lowering their voices. Or maybe they forgot to confirm if she was still unconscious because of the gravity of what they had to tell the two guards. Regardless of the reason, she learned how dire the situation was outside.
After learning that the Crown Princess had finally made a move against the Conclave, as her Royal Knight, Lira, could not remain captive.
Lira became Haylee's Royal Knight mainly because of her innate ability— Detect Weakness— and she could use it not only on people but also on her surroundings. It did not take long for her to find a weak spot on the walls where she was being kept and escape. The guards tried to stop her but failed because she easily overpowered them with her physical strength.
That was right. Even if Euan or Kyran placed seals on her so she could not use her magic energy, as a Royal Knight, her physical strength was above average. Against mages with weak physical bodies, Lira did not even break out a sweat.
After that, Lira confirmed that her secret storage had not been confiscated and that her regular communication device was there. She reckoned they did not find the storage because she hid it inside her undergarment.
Anyhow, Lira used the regular communication device to send a coded message to the Boyd Family. She still could not use her magic energy. Thus, she could only use a regular communication device.
The device was similar to the one Fiona had used, which was why when Osric received the message, he thought she was the one who sent it.
Since the device could only send but not receive messages, Osric could not reply to Lira. But it was not really a problem because the latter was quite smart. Knowing she would not receive any response, she included instructions on how she would know if the Boyd Family received her message.
Of course, she only included this instruction after confirming that the Boyd Family was included among the noble families attacking the Conclave. As long as someone from the family was there, the message she sent to the person Fiona used to report to, Lira believed that person would cascade the instruction to that member.
Lira did not know that the one leading the attack on the Conclave was the person Fiona reported to— Osric.
In any case, Lira also sent regular updates on her current location, which helped Osric understand the current situation inside the Conclave.
Inside the Conclave, Lira, wearing the uniform of a Conclave member, successfully blended into the crowd.
Currently, the grounds outside the towers of the Conclave were filled with makeshift tents. Inside the makeshift tents, alchemists tended to the wounded. While outside, the regular Conclave and Chamber of Commerce members were running around delivering items such as potions, pills, bandages, etc.
At one of the nearby tents, Lira caught sight of the soldiers an alchemist was tending. Her brows furrowed slightly after recognizing the soldier as part of Euan's army.
'Is the emperor here?' She wondered as she avoided most of the members running around.
Finally, she found her way to the tower closest to the Tower of Conclave's main entrance.
Even with her magic sealed, Lira sensed powerful presences inside the tower and reckoned that the Conclave Council members and the other leaders were there.
Lira hid in a bush near the entrance before sending another update. In the message, she advised the possibility of the Conclave Council members staying at the tower close to the main entrance and that she planned on going in to investigate.
After sending the message, Lira waited for an answer.
Due to the limitation of her communication device, she only sent questions that could be answered with a yes or no. If the answer was yes, she asked them to attack the topmost part of the right tower. If it was a no, they should attack the left one twice but in the span of one attack.
Since the defensive array around the tower prevented tremors and attacks from getting inside, when someone attacked from the outside, it would appear like fireworks.
Outside, Osric received Lira's message and immediately ordered someone to attack the right tower.
Earlier, he ordered to stop attacking the tower and have the Array Specialists find a way to decipher the Conclave's defensive array. But after receiving Lira's message, he had his people attack but only to camouflage the 'answers' to Lira's message. Of course, Osric told his people to avoid attacking the topmost area of the right and left towers.
Back in the Tower of Conclave, Lira did not waste time after receiving the answer and entered the main hall.
It was not hard to enter because quite a few were entering and leaving in a hurry.
Lira realized the Conclave's security inside was pretty lax, a testament to their confidence in the tower's defensive array. If this had been in the palace, they would still be on guard, no matter how confident they were about its defensive array.
Their reason was simple. There was no telling if a spy was among them, and if they lowered their guard even for a bit, that spy would definitely take advantage of it.
Lira was not complaining about the Conclave's lack of security. She was actually grateful because she could move around with ease.
As soon as Lira entered the tower, she saw the hall was also packed with people, most of whom were alchemists.
Several furnaces lined up on each side, and several long tables filled with ingredients were in the middle of the hall.
Alchemists were busy concocting potions and pills on both sides while the regular members and security mages of the Conclave were busy refilling the ingredients on the table or delivering the finished pills and potions outside.
At one corner, there were low-level mercenaries who were also busy replenishing the bandages and other disposable items needed for tending the wounded.
They all wore grave expressions, and Lira felt their pain though she was part of the opposing side. But she doused her sympathetic sentiment at once. These people were in this situation because they dared oppose the Crown Princess. Did they not understand that the more they resisted, the more they would suffer once the real war began?
Steeling her resolve, Lira made her way to the side, where she found the entrance leading to a long hallway.
She slipped past a couple of mercenaries who were assisting an alchemist and successfully entered the hallway.
Once there, she immediately noticed the hallway was empty. Because of this, she did not walk in at once in case a surveillance array existed. There might even be traps or intruder alerts. Unfortunately, since she could not use her magic energy, she could not probe her surroundings for hidden arrays or traps.
But Lira was not worried about being unable to use her magic energy. After all, with her innate ability, she could still detect some areas in the surroundings where she could easily slip into.
Lira followed the small path to the wall close to the windows for the next few minutes. She did not know why, but this patch was the weak spot she detected in this hallway.
Finally, she reached the end of the hall, where she found winding stairs that led to the next level. She also found a teleportation array nearby but ignored it. She was not stupid enough to use an array that would reveal herself to the enemy.
Lira did not plan to go to the second level but to the third level because it was where the powerful presence she felt outside was gathered.
However, just as she was about to go up, a strange feeling suddenly came over her. An inkling, telling her to also check the rooms in the second level.
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