Rebellion 12

Translator: Cinder Translations

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In the hall of the lord's mansion in Alden Town, officials of the governing council at the supervisor level and above had gathered. Besides the council members, there was also the old steward, Philip, but three important figures from the military were absent—the Chief of Staff, Schröder; the Logistics Department head, Ron; and the Equipment Department head, Kelly.

However, everyone was too preoccupied to think about why those three were not present. In fact, it was quite rare for the council officials and military officers to hold meetings together. The minds of everyone in the hall were filled with an incredible piece of news:

Paul Grayman, the ruler of Alden and Emden, and the Earl of the Aldor Kingdom, had been assassinated.

Just four years ago, the previous Earl Grayman had already departed due to a pirate attack, and today, the young Earl who inherited his position also left them, ascending to the eternal paradise of the Lord of Light.

No one in the hall spoke; each person stared blankly at the candles on the table.

They had all been hastily awakened in the middle of the night and informed of an important matter that required their presence at the lord's mansion. Many were still puzzled, as the lord had gone hunting elsewhere. They never expected to arrive at the lord's mansion, struggling against drowsiness, only to be met with this thunderous shock.

Yet, the hall was not entirely silent; there was a soft sound of sobbing.

It was Philip, wiping his tears. The old steward was enduring immense grief. Paul Grayman was someone he had watched grow up, and in a sense, Philip regarded him as a child of his own, rather than just a master he served.

In addition to his sorrow, another emotion was tearing at the old steward's heart—a profound sense of guilt toward Paul's father, grandfather, and the entire Grayman family.

Since the time of Paul's grandfather, the Grayman family had suffered from a lack of descendants. Both Paul's father and grandfather were only children, without even sisters. When it came to Paul's father, fortune seemed to smile upon him—he and his wife had given birth to two boys. However, when Paul was just over two years old, fate suddenly withdrew its gifts from this family, along with interest—the mother of Paul and his brother died from an infectious disease. Out of love and longing for his wife, the elder Grayman never remarried or fathered any illegitimate children. Then, when this family continued to encounter misfortunes—the elder Grayman perished in an ambush by the Shark Gang pirates, leaving Paul as the last surviving branch of the Grayman family.

But now, this lone remaining branch had also been broken by the cruel winds of fate. Was this a curse?

An overwhelming sense of guilt weighed heavily on old steward Philip's heart. He believed it was his responsibility, that he had failed to fulfill his duties as a guardian. As the steward of the Grayman family, he should have kept all dangers away from Paul. Why hadn't he advised him against going hunting at that time?

Thinking of this, the old steward felt even more sorrowful.

Suddenly, Philip looked up and met the gaze of the old Ford sitting next to him. The eyes of this council supervisor were clouded, and the redness around his eyes and the trembling of his beard displayed his profound grief.

Like Philip, old Ford had watched Paul grow up. As an old minister left by the elder Grayman, he also felt a sense of responsibility toward Paul.

Upon making eye contact, the two elderly men, feeling a shared grief, broke down and wept bitterly, tears streaming down their faces.

As they saw the two oldest and highest-ranking individuals in the hall falling into an inextricable state, the remaining people felt even more anxious and unsettled.

Especially Cecil, the intelligence officer under the lord, who found himself completely unaware of the assassination plot against the lord. No matter the reason, this was a colossal dereliction of duty on his part, and now he felt utterly despondent.

Among those present, only Hansel Abbott, the head of the Agriculture Department, managed to remain calm. However, despite his clear mind, his emotions were complex.

Hansel couldn't help but think to himself that Paul's departure was a tremendous loss. This Earl was the most enlightened and progressive lord he had ever seen, perhaps even competent in his own way. Of course, this competence was not the traditional noble ability to govern a territory—rather, the young Earl was somewhat lacking in that regard. In Hansel's eyes, Paul's ability lay in his obsession with technology. Many things that other nobles regarded as mere pastimes were turned into valuable pursuits under Paul's guidance, such as alchemy, mechanics, and mathematics. He had made massive, long-term investments in these areas, all of which brought substantial returns to his territory, including powerful firearms, pesticides for pest control, productivity-enhancing workshops, fertile farms, and statisticians and surveyors who provided detailed data about the territory, among many other things that even Hansel couldn't fully grasp.

Furthermore, there was his long-term vision. For example, his strong support for maritime trade and his facilitation of the tariff alliance brought enormous wealth to the Northwest Bay. More impressively, the tariff alliance had initially seemed like a huge loss to many—after all, it meant collecting less money. However, after the tariffs were abolished within the alliance, trade became much smoother, and businesses, freed from constraints, flourished increasingly. The prices of goods dropped, and the lives of the people in the territory visibly improved, recovering the losses from tariffs several times over in the prosperous market.

As for Hansel himself, Paul had, in a sense, granted him the opportunity to demonstrate his administrative capabilities. Before meeting Paul, Hansel was merely a small tax official in the Aldor Kingdom and a titular royal commissioner. It was Paul Grayman who provided him with a platform to showcase his skills in governance. The Earl's support of the royal family also gave Hansel a slight presence in the eyes of the big shots in the royal capital, which made Sir Hansel Abbott quite grateful toward the Earl.

After mourning in his heart for a while, the clear-headed Hansel immediately thought of a question—what would happen to Alden's future after losing Paul? What would happen to the governing council? More specifically, what would happen to his own future?

Would the governing council continue to operate according to the policies set forth by Earl Grayman during his lifetime? Would Alden maintain its good cooperative relationship with the royal family? Would the new lord continue to employ the group of outsiders from Crystal Glare, like him?

Right! The new lord!

Hansel suddenly realized that the resolution of the above questions would entirely depend on the attitude of the new lord.

(End of the Chapter)

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