Rebellion 13

Translator: Cinder Translations

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The position of the Lord of Alden could not remain vacant for long; this was what Hansel was thinking at the moment. Should he remind everyone present not to dwell solely on their sorrow and to quickly determine the new lord's successor? The Grayman family had been in the Northwest Bay for over a hundred years, and it seemed there were quite a few branches.

Wait a minute… Hansel suddenly realized that if they could not find a suitable heir, the land of Alden—and now Emden, which was attached to Alden—would logically be reclaimed by the royal family, including all the assets on the land.

With that thought, Hansel Abbott's heart began to race. If… if he could persuade those present to offer the territory to the royal family, what a tremendous achievement that would be! Alden was a massive gold brick, pure and untainted.

No! Hansel quickly doused this thought with cold water.

If it were two years ago, he might have pushed for this matter without hesitation.

But now, Hansel had other considerations. He thought about how insignificant he was in the eyes of the big shots in the royal capital. The slight position he had gained was still reliant on his connection to Paul Grayman. If the land and its assets were reclaimed by the royal family, he would lose his value as a link. Would those big shots bestow this great credit upon him?

After a moment of contemplation, he felt the likelihood of being cast aside was much greater.

So, he immediately threw this childish thought out of his mind and turned back to the search for a new lord.

But was it appropriate for him to propose it alone?

He cast his gaze at the lord's secretary, Bernard Francis, who was also from Crystal Glare, across the table.

The lord's secretary did not respond, merely staring blankly at the candlestick on the table.

"My lords!" A loud voice broke the silence in the hall.

Lieutenant Beluga of the Training Office pushed the door open and instantly attracted everyone's attention.

"I know that the death of Lord Grayman is a sorrowful matter," he said with a serious expression, "but now is not the time for mourning."

What did he want to say? Everyone was wondering in their minds.

"We must quickly elect a new lord."

Beluga's words instantly caused an uproar in the castle hall.

Old Ford angrily trembled as he pointed at the young officer, "Do you know what you're saying, Beluga?!"

"How outrageous! How outrageous!" Cecil shook his head repeatedly.

"Lord Grayman's corpse is still warm, and you're already thinking about pleasing a new master?"

"At the very least, we should catch the traitors who assassinated Lord Grayman before discussing the new lord."

Everyone began to chatter in unison, condemning this reckless young officer.

Even many officials, who usually did not interact with the military, were muttering to themselves, wondering who this impudent young man was and why he thought he could speak here.

Hansel quietly felt fortunate that he hadn't just suggested electing a new lord; otherwise, he would have been the target of everyone's ire.

Someone began to confront Beluga, "Are all those militia on the streets your doing? The whole town is under martial law—who gave you the authority?"

Beluga seemed to have anticipated the crowd's reaction and showed no sign of panic on his face.

He walked up to the conference table and unrolled a sheepskin parchment for everyone to see.

Then he said in a deep voice, "My lords, it was Lord Schroder who appointed me as the military head of Alden Town. The reason for martial law is that we received highly confidential intelligence indicating that conspirators are lurking in Alden Town, plotting rebellion. This seems to be closely related to the assassination of Lord Grayman."

Everyone glanced at the parchment, which indeed bore the seal of the General Staff. And since Chief Schroder was the most prestigious and powerful figure in the Alden army besides Paul, it was reasonable for him to issue orders to the military at this time.

"Wait! Where is Schroder? Why isn't he here? What about Kelly and Ron?" 

Old Ford asked, puzzled. Even if the four captains had taken their troops out for training, the Chief of Staff and the heads of the Logistics and Equipment Departments were in Alden Town. Why hand this over to an unknown officer in the Training Office?

The head steward of the Administrative Office initiated the questioning, and others began to voice their concerns.

"How did you know about the lord's assassination?"

"Yeah, who told you?"

The crowd buzzed with questions.

Beluga frowned; it was clear that things would not proceed as ideally as he hoped, but fortunately, he was prepared.

He called out, "Come in, Stefano."

A badly injured man limped into the room, his head tightly bandaged, exposing only half his face, with dried blood and large stains soaking through the bandages. His chest and entire right arm were similarly bandaged, and he walked with a noticeable limp, appearing extremely weak.

"Stefano?"

Old Ford and Philip recognized him as one of the guards from the lord's estate.

"Does that mean… Lord Grayman really was murdered?" Philip asked, trembling.

Stefano lowered his head, seemingly too afraid to look at them, and answered quietly, "Yes, Lord Philip."

Bernard, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked, "How did you return?"

"I... was ordered by Lord Grayman to break through and bring news of the ambush back to Alden Town—he was already gravely injured and unable to move. I feel ashamed; we were supposed to protect Lord Grayman while he broke through…"

"Break through?" 

"Yes, the traitors used the cover of the dense forest to surround us. They seemed very familiar with the terrain and had a large number of people."

"Do you know who the traitors are?"

"I'm sorry, I don't recognize anyone."

The crowd was about to ask more questions when Beluga interrupted.

"I'll answer Lord Ford's earlier question about why Chief Schroder and the others are not here."

He hesitated, frowning as he said, "In fact, shortly after Stefano brought the news back, we received an urgent report from the border—troops from surrounding territories are gathering."

"The armies of other lords?"

Beluga's statement plunged everyone present into a state of great shock once again.

How could this happen at such a critical moment? Wasn't this a clear internal and external crisis? Everyone subconsciously thought of a terrifying possibility—that the internal strife and external threat were closely related. Were those behind the attack on Paul supported by external forces?

"In light of this..." Beluga continued, "The troops out training cannot be contacted at the moment, so Lord Schroder and the others urgently set out for the border to deploy defenses."

(End of the Chapter)

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