If VanCleef was the one who ultimately made the decision to riot, then Bazil was the culprit who had repeatedly whispered in his ear, egging him on.
This fellow had a natural talent for causing trouble. After being thrown into the Stormwind Stockade, he had even organized a prison riot in an attempt to stage a violent breakout. He was eventually suppressed, and his sentence was extended long enough to keep him behind bars for three lifetimes.
Yet, at this very moment, not only was he out, but he was accompanied by two Royal Guards. From the looks of it, these guards weren't supervising him; they seemed more like his subordinates.
"We have reports that you are conducting illegal construction, hoarding munitions, and are suspected of spreading Necromantic doctrines. I..." At this point, he patted his chest smugly, "have been ordered to conduct an on-site inspection. Now, all of you stop what you're doing and line up to one side. No one leaves until the inspection is complete!"
Despite his forceful shouting, the workers present weren't naive newcomers. They had lived through riots, wars, and brushes with death. Although they weren't much for combat, they possessed strength and pride. Seeing Bazil's arrogant display only made them feel nauseous; consequently, no one paid him any mind.
Seeing the awkward silence, a guard to Bazil's left leaned in and whispered a few words. Bazil immediately shouted again: "Are you deaf? Disobeying an order is equivalent to rebellion! Do you people know the penalty for rebellion?"
The two Dwarves, confused by the situation, looked toward Barons. Just as Barons was about to step forward, Wayne walked out from behind the four newly built walls of a house, clapping the dust off his hands.
"Who issued the order?" Wayne asked.
The guard who had just spoken pointed at Wayne and told Bazil, "That's him." Bazil clenched his fists, putting on a show of preparing to rough Wayne up. He intended to look down on Wayne with disdain, but to his surprise, Wayne was half a head taller than him. He had to keep some distance and tilt his head back to sneer, "By order of the House of Nobles, of course!"
Wayne gave a mocking laugh. "Oh? Words are cheap. Do you have proof? Two lackeys wearing Royal Guard armor don't prove a thing."
Bazil pulled a roll of parchment from his tunic and slowly unfurled it. It was a formal document with several lines of text, framed by a gold-threaded border. At the top center was the Golden Lion crest of the Kingdom of Stormwind. The content of the document matched what Bazil had just said, ending with a signature so scrawled that neither Wayne nor Barons could tell who had signed it.
It was obvious. Wayne didn't even need to use his brain to know that the Defias rebels who had been terrified the previous night had sent word to their insiders in Stormwind. Otherwise, how would the House of Nobles know so quickly about the fake skeletons when even the residents of Goldshire were still in the dark?
"I can't read this signature. I don't know who signed it," Wayne said.
Wayne's words made Bazil laugh loudly. "Don't think that just because you have a 'Sir' in front of your name, you're a real noble. Compared to these powerful figures, you're just a tiny ant."
"Do exactly as I said, or I'll arrest you all right now!"
Barons tried to speak again, but Wayne stopped him once more. "You're certain this is an order from the House of Nobles?"
Bazil rolled his eyes. "Are you illiterate? Can't you read?"
Wayne replied, "Then tell me who signed it."
Bazil's spit nearly hit Wayne's face. He stepped closer, standing on his tiptoes so his nose was level with Wayne's. "Do you have the authority to ask? Just obey quietly, unless you want to go to jail."
Wayne had no patience for this kind of behavior. He shoved Bazil away with both hands. "Everyone heard him, right? He repeatedly stated that this is an order from the House of Nobles."
Being shoved sent Bazil into a rage. He raised his fist to strike, and the two guards behind him drew their longswords. However, the guard who had been whispering earlier was clearly clumsy; it took him three tries to unsheathe his blade, and his scabbard nearly fell to the ground.
"A decision by the House of Nobles? How come I wasn't informed?" A deep voice echoed from inside the house before Bazil's fist could land.
Bazil didn't recognize the speaker, but seeing the man's noble attire, he pulled back his fist. "Who the hell are you? Why should you know?"
The guard who couldn't draw his sword coughed twice, but Bazil failed to pick up on the warning.
"I am a Duke of the Kingdom of Stormwind, a member of the House of Nobles, and the High Paladin of Stormwind—Shadowbreak."
Bazil had been in prison for years and, as a former stonemason, had never met Shadowbreak. However, hearing that string of titles, he couldn't help but glance back at the guard, as if to say, This isn't how you said the script would go. But it was too late to turn back now; he had to push through.
He held up the parchment again, showing it to Shadowbreak. "If you're a Duke, you should recognize this order even better, and you should know the consequences of defying it!"
Shadowbreak stepped forward, snatched the parchment, glanced at it, and handed it to Barons.
Wayne immediately drew his wand from his waist and cast a spell at Barons: "Petrificus Totalus!"
Barons didn't expect this move. His entire body turned rigid, and he fell straight back onto the ground, unable to move anything but his eyes.
The two guards behind Bazil were about to move, but one was struck with a Sap while the other was turned into a small pig!
It turned out that Amy and Corrine had been lying in ambush. One was a ranged caster, the other a rogue stealthed behind the guards. They were just waiting for Wayne's signal to act. The surrounding workers immediately swarmed forward, capturing the three and binding them tightly to trees.
Wayne pulled off the guards' helmets. As it turned out, the guard who had been whispering to Bazil was none other than Brother Cassus, who had caused trouble at the cafe before. The other was recognized by Barons as a criminal who had been caught grave-robbing in Duskwood years ago.
In other words, these three were exactly as Wayne had suspected: they weren't real Stormwind guards, and the order they held was a forgery. However, Shadowbreak verified that the armor they wore was genuine Royal Guard equipment.
Impersonating a Royal Guard was a felony; forging an order from the House of Nobles was a capital crime. The fact that they dared to come so openly meant someone was pulling the strings. But no matter how they were interrogated, the three did nothing but curse Wayne, Barons, and the workers, repeatedly threatening that everyone would soon pay the price.
In truth, the appearance of Shadowbreak and the others wasn't part of Wayne's original plan, but two events in the early hours of the morning had forced his hand.
The best evidence of this was the two Flash Bombs that had detonated minutes apart, lighting up the night like brilliant stars and turning darkness into day. This was one of the items Wayne had given Winston—an item unlocked after fully completing Monster Hunter G.
The other item Wayne had given Winston was the other vial of Noggenfogger Elixir from Chen.
At 3:00 AM, as a violent light erupted from the Mirror Lake Orchard camp across the water, the two Dwarven riflemen observed the scene through their telescopes. They saw a skeleton armed with two daggers storm the camp. The Defias rebels, their eyes suddenly stimulated by the intense light in the pitch-black night, suffered from pupils contracting so sharply it caused physical pain. Blinded, they were helpless. The skeleton moved with lethal precision, cutting down over half the rebels in just over a minute. He vanished silently only after the remaining few fled into the buildings and lit torches.
With this, the threat from Mirror Lake Orchard was neutralized. Even if reinforcements arrived, Wayne now had enough time to call for help.
However, from another perspective, this event forced certain people to take the field personally. This was the second event: after confirming the plan with Wayne, Mathias had kept agents tailing Katrana. This was why every time she secretly went to the Cathedral of Light, she was "recalled" by a messenger who was practically shadowing her.
This was Mathias's way of baiting Katrana into revealing her intentions more actively.
When the incident at the orchard occurred around 5:00 AM, Mathias's informant discovered that Katrana was gone. She hadn't appeared anywhere in the city; she had simply vanished into thin air.
Following their prior agreement, Mathias activated his intelligence network and relayed this to Corrine via a trusted agent. Corrine rushed to the site and gave Wayne a five-word message: "That person is gone."
Wayne immediately did three things.
First, he sent a magic mail to Amy for help, inviting as many reinforcements as possible, especially mages skilled in teleportation. Although they didn't fully understand the situation, Marlin and his daughter teleported over immediately. Ana, acting on Andromath's advice, stayed in the city to teleport other cafe members to Goldshire as they arrived at the Wizard's Sanctum.
Second, he had the workers excavate as much space in the basement as possible, turning it into a fortification.
Third—his final trump card—he posted a notice at the cafe entrance saying: "Closed for New Shop Preparation." He then wrapped the vending machine in felt and transported it to the cellar of the construction site.
Despite Tess's pleas, he insisted that Liria and old Anduin look after her in the town center where it was crowded and safe.
Fortunately, Shadowbreak had returned unexpectedly. After going back to the Cathedral, he was told the Archbishop wouldn't see anyone but wanted him to stay in the Cathedral. This struck him as suspicious. The man who delivered that message was the very same Brother Cassus now tied to a tree.
The Silver Hand operated with a degree of independence. Although the Archbishop was the leader of the Church of the Holy Light and Shadowbreak respected him immensely, as a leader of the Order of the Silver Hand, he had the authority and qualifications to act on his own judgment. Thus, he chose to leave Wilhelm's squad at the Cathedral while he returned to Goldshire alone.
It turned out his suspicions were correct; Cassus had indeed forged the order.
Time ticked by, moving from day to afternoon, and finally to night. Wayne knew that if what was coming was inevitable, he was ready.