The gear-shaped door knocker on the oak and iron door rattled twice. Just from that rough knocking, Horn immediately knew it was Patrick.

"Patrick?" Horn stopped René, who was reporting on the origins of the Mormon wizards, and asked the person outside the door.

"Who's Patrick? I'm Chrispa." Patrick's hoarse voice came from outside.

Horn waved a hand at René, then gestured to Duvalon at the door. The gendarme standing by the door opened the study's door.

"Come in." Horn said to Patrick standing by the door.

Patrick swaggered in from the door, plopped down without any courtesy opposite Horn, and coughed twice: "Your Grace, what do you need me for?"

"Pfft!"

Patrick looked at Busak beside him in surprise: "What are you laughing at?"

"I suddenly thought of something funny." After briefly losing his composure, Busak re-adopted his poker face.

"Chrispa, be honest with me, are you the Great Mage Patrick?" Horn gave Patrick one last chance.

"No! Who's Patrick? I'm Chrispa."

Horn sat upright in his chair, watching his performance helplessly.

In fact, he never understood, if you want to disguise your identity, do it a bit better. Isn't a name like Chrispa too obvious about who you are?

But Patrick was oddly confident in his disguised identity, thinking others couldn't tell.

Even when exposed, he stubbornly refused to admit it, trying to cover up as if he hadn't been discovered.

Since that was the case, Horn wouldn't hold back anymore.

"Pa... ah, Chrispa, I have an important message for you." Horn put down the feather pen in his hand, "About Black Snake Bay."

"Black Snake Bay, weren't they blockaded by the Red Copper Fortress?" Patrick asked in surprise, "After Joan of Arc Castle fell, they should have sealed off all the main routes."

"Yes, but the Sand Sculpture Knight Nidesar had a wizard slave camp, where a revolt happened a few days ago, and four wizards escaped, recently captured in Sour Melon Town.

They brought two letters, one to the captured Kush Knights and one to a mysterious person named Patrick."

"What... me? Oh no, Patrick?" Patrick started coughing nervously.

"Both letters were inspected and opened by Cheka. The first was a family letter from the Alco Clan, roughly telling the Kush Knights to hold out, that the war would definitely end before August, and that they'd come to redeem them then."

Horn set aside the knights' letter, picking up the other one: "This letter was confirmed by Cheka not to disclose any secrets or convey confidential information. Since it's a private letter, I haven't read it..."

At this point, Horn could clearly see Patrick let out a long sigh of relief, his previously leaned-forward posture relaxing back against the chair.

"But since there's no Patrick here, we'll just set it aside for the moment."

"No, perhaps we'll find him if we look a bit more, let me help you search." Patrick attempted to grab the letter, but Horn beat him to it.

"Good idea." Horn opened the letter, "I'll read it, and you help me figure out who it is..."

"Ahem, ahem, ahem... Wait a second." Patrick's expression changed dramatically.

Before he could stop him, Horn started reading aloud: "Dear Pani, oh, what a charming little nickname, Pani..."

"Wait, wait, wait." Patrick, blushing and flustered, leapt to his feet, "Okay, okay, don't read it, I know who Patrick is."

Taking a handkerchief from his pocket, he wiped the sweat from his temple: "Sigh, I didn't expect I'd hidden this for so long without anyone knowing, and in the end, I still have to say it."

Standing up straight, with a face revealing the answer to the riddle, Patrick declared: "I admit, Patrick is me... my alias!"

Unfortunately, none of the people present, not even the gendarme, showed even a hint of surprise.

"Oh, so Chrispa is an alias for Patrick?" Busak remarked with feigned enlightenment.

"Yes... oh no, no, no." Patrick looked at the smiling eyes of those around him, puffed out his chest, "Patrick is an alias for Patrick... Patrick is the alias for Chrispa!"

Even the gendarme nearby couldn't help but chuckle.

Seeing Patrick's embarrassed demeanor, Horn decided not to make things harder for him; after all, it was just a little prank, not intended to truly humiliate Patrick.

"So it was you, huh? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Although Horn didn't understand why Patrick was so obsessed with a pseudonym or false identity, he still handed both the letter and its copy to Patrick.

Patrick unfolded the letter, reading it openly and quickly. At first, his expression remained normal, but then he suddenly blushed, and soon after frowned.

"Your Grace..."

"What is it?"

"There's an important message I need to inform you of."

"What?"

Patrick carefully tucked the original letter into his bosom, took out a copy, tore off a fragment, and handed it to Horn.

"... Do you remember? After my husband died, we made love for the first time, it was in the autumn, and if there's a chance, this summer I... uh uh..."

Horn instinctively read aloud gently.

"Phew!" Duvalon immediately whistled a suggestive tune from the side.

Under Patrick's fierce glare, Duvalon suppressed a laugh and turned his gaze elsewhere, studying the new pattern on the wall.

Horn looked at Patrick blankly: "Are you bragging?"

Even Patrick, with his thick skin, blushed slightly: "Your Grace, this isn't bragging. My... lover is a shy girl, she rarely writes such things in her letters."

"Alright, this topic is getting more and more inappropriate. You being happy is enough, no need to report everything to me." Even Horn was embarrassed by Patrick.

Is this the right thing to discuss in such a setting? At this age, still playing such games?

Patrick cleared his throat lightly: "In fact, my lover is a noblewoman from Jinhe Town, and I suspect she's trying to pass intelligence to us."

"Intelligence? What intelligence? Why would she pass intelligence to you?"

As it involved the war front, Horn's casual demeanor immediately disappeared. He sat upright, staring intently at Patrick.

"Although she's a noblewoman, her family made their fortune through smuggling with Black Snake Bay, so she barely counts as our side's force, and I'm willing to vouch for it!"

Horn glanced at René, who immediately comprehended and drove all the servants and gendarmes out of the room.

René walked to the window, looked out left and right, then nodded to Horn.

"Go ahead."

"After her husband's death, our first encounter was in winter, at her home, but our first meeting was in autumn, at Black Mountain."

"What do you mean?"

"Why would she write to me without a reason? Why show a different posture than usual? Why use such an unconventional method? Why pass information through a few escaped wizards?

She asked me to meet in summer at Black Mountain, as if hinting at Black Mountain. Also, the Alco Clan promised the Kush Knights the war would end by August."

Closing his eyes to recall the map, Horn soon opened them again: "The Sand Sculpture Knight is preparing for direct combat? But Black Mountain... wait a minute, this makes sense!"

An inspiration flashed through his mind, and he suddenly slapped his forehead: "The army provisions were burned, forcing Nidesar to advance, but they don't want to disrupt their initial distraction tactics, so they chose Black Mountain."

If this is true, given the current efficiency gap between the two sides, with this intelligence difference, Horn is confident that the Salvation Army will definitely gain a strategic advantage, but...

"Is this information reliable? Are you sure it's not a decoy from the other side?" René, who was standing by listening, suddenly spoke.

"Absolutely reliable," Patrick said, rubbing his brow forcefully before hesitatingly adding, "But it's best to investigate first."

After some thought, Horn immediately decided: "Notify Jeanne on the front lines to dispatch the Cuirassiers to scout around Black Mountain."

Gripping the armrest of the chair, Patrick stood up: "I'll personally take a trip."

"Alright." Horn also stood, seriously patting his shoulder, "Ensure your safety, you're not getting any younger either."

"Alright... huh?" Patrick squinted with suspicion, feeling there was more to the words.

He stood up, walked to the door, then suddenly turned his head, still seeing the solemn Horn.

"What's wrong?" Horn looked up confused while organizing documents, "Is there something else?"

Blinking, Patrick thought he might have seen it wrong and pushed the door open.

"Click—"

"Hahaha."

Quickly turning his head, Patrick grasped the doorknob, pushed the door, but saw Busak, Duvalon, and others continuing to report.

"Do you have anything else?"

"No, nothing." Scanning the room, Patrick shut the door.

"Click—"

"Hahaha—"

This time Patrick didn't push the door again, he blushed deeply, and under the gaze of the gendarmes, quickly headed towards the stable by the entrance.

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