Chaos!

Translator: Cinder Translations

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Colonel James Walton, the commander of the 6th Infantry Regiment stationed at the Emden border, was feeling quite frustrated.

Early in the morning, the colonel first inspected the soldiers during their morning training, then returned to his quarters to prepare for breakfast.

Just as he took his first bite of bread, he suddenly received a telegram from the signal tower in Lake Moore.

Lake Moore was the territory of the Helsen family, a viscountcy and one of the former vassal territories of Emden. This telegram was sent by Viscount Helsen.

The content of the telegram astonished Colonel Walton—next door, Earl Bajita Bazel had suddenly stormed into Lake Moore with his army, claiming to be pursuing a band of thieves. The few soldiers under Viscount Helsen's command were unable to stop him and could only stay holed up in his castle. Although Earl Bazel's troops had not committed any acts of violence upon entering Lake Moore, they were now continuing their advance toward Emden.

After the usurper war, Paul had placed the directly governed Emden under the management of the Council of Ministers but had shown considerable leniency toward the vassals of the Kent family. After requiring them to re-swear loyalty to the Grayman family, he allowed them to retain their territories as long as their laws did not contradict the few basic principles set forth by the Alden lord's court, and they had to join the customs union. In all other aspects, they were allowed to govern themselves.

Requiring these small lords to re-swear loyalty posed no pressure; as vassals of the Kent family, they had put in effort and risked their lives during the war, accompanying their old master Maltz Kent until his last moment, fulfilling their oath to him. Since both Maltz Kent and his heir no longer existed, the previous oath had lost its binding basis.

At this time, each individual made a rational choice—whether to act as an enemy of Paul Grayman and oppose him or to embrace him as a vassal.

Viscount Helsen was one of the more proactive among the newly surrendered lords. However, his proactivity did not manifest in fawning over Paul when he was received or kissing Paul's boots; instead, he focused on ensuring that Lake Moore remained in sync with Alden Town regarding laws, regulations, and taxes. Even matters like the municipal hall and police station were aligned such that an ordinary Alden citizen moving to Lake Moore would feel no discomfort.

Additionally, Helsen sent his nephew—who would inherit his title, as the viscount only had a daughter—to the Weis Academy in Alden Town for studies. According to traditional views, this equated to providing a hostage, although Paul did not care much about it.

In others' eyes, Viscount Helsen seemed more like an administrative officer sent from Alden Town rather than a local lord.

Helsen's proactive approach earned him substantial rewards. Each time the lords gathered in Alden Town, Paul favored him. More critically, Alden Town invested heavily in his territory—building roads, factories, and mines. They provided all the funds, equipment, and technology; all he needed to contribute was a piece of land and some manpower, costing him nothing upfront. Once profits were made, they would split them evenly.

Through this means, the Helsen family's wealth accumulated at an envious speed compared to the meager amounts they used to extract from the impoverished peasants.

Lake Moore served as an excellent model, prompting many vassals to mimic the Helsen family's practices, even if they could not attract Alden Town's investments—many of Alden's methods for developing territories provided good references.

Especially for Viscount Brett Sean, who ruled over Biddeburg. During the usurper war, the Sean family was heavily penalized with reparations, causing generations of accumulated wealth to evaporate overnight. They even had to borrow money to survive. At one point, Viscount Sean considered selling his territory directly to the Grayman Earl, to whom he was now loyal.

In short, for Alden Town, Lake Moore was a demonstration base, and with the Helsen family now being vassals of the Grayman family, under the protection of Alden Town, Colonel Walton could not ignore the situation.

The colonel hurriedly ate a few bites of food and ordered the soldiers to summon all the officers of the regiment, planning to inform them to lead the troops to Lake Moore to block Earl Bazel's army.

Earl Bazel had also participated in the usurper war, on the side of the anti-Kent alliance, but only joined in the latter half of the war. He had recently been negotiating with the customs union, intending to join but had disagreements regarding the allocation of common tariffs, so he had not yet been accepted as a formal member.

This was a lord with a neutral relationship with Alden Town, but it was too much for him to invade Grayman family territory without prior notice. Colonel Walton decided to use a strong military presence to make him retreat, intending to reason with him first. If that failed, he would resort to force. Walton had little respect for the armies of other territories in the Northwest Bay.

According to regulations, the colonel first sent an encrypted telegram to Alden Town, explaining the reasons for this action.

Then came the frustrating part for Colonel Walton.

Firstly, Alden Town quickly replied, but the content left him in disbelief; it instructed him to allow Earl Bazel's army to pass and claimed that Bazel had come at the invitation of Alden Town, with the telegram originating from the headquarters.

The army's communication code had been changed not long ago, and the encryption was end-to-end, so Bazel did not doubt the authenticity of the telegram's content.

However, if foreign troops were invited to enter one's territory, should it not first be communicated to the stationed 6th Infantry Regiment? What if a misunderstanding occurred?

Despite these doubts, Colonel Walton decided to execute the order and planned to send a few guides to Earl Bazel's army.

However, he then received another telegram that sent chills down his spine—the message stated that Alden Town had been taken over by rebel forces and warned against believing any information coming from there. The header read "To All Regiments...", meaning every regiment commander would receive such a telegram.

Particularly alarming was that this telegram came from Sector 51, sent by Chief of Staff Schroder.

As one of the eight regiment commanders in the Alden army, James Walton certainly knew Sector 51. But why was Lord Schroder there, and what did he mean by Alden Town being under rebel control?

Colonel Walton and his subordinate officers were thrown into great confusion by these two telegrams.

Which side should they believe? Alden Town? Or Sector 51?

TL: Readers, what would you have done? If you didn't know truth from falsehood?

(End of the Chapter)

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