Chapter 279: Fearsome Average Citizens (1/2)

On the next day, the diplomatic corps was once again on the road after packing up.

As with yesterday, old Basil took the carriage.

They weren’t far from Lancaster, and would reach the city latest by the evening.

And being the key player of the diplomatic corps, it was most important for Basil to consider how he would be behaving around the mayor of Lancaster.

Should he be distant immediately, setting boundaries as if it was all business and nothing personal, or feign warmth to sedate him so as to measure his depth?

Both ideas were immediately tossed aside the moment they appeared in old Basil’s mind.

Direct aloofness, or indeed hostility was definitely a no-go.

While the new emperor would definitely be looking to make an example of someone, should his imperial majesty decided not to choose Lancaster, Basil’s behavior would cause Lancaster’s mayor to misunderstand that he was going to be made an example as well. Although that was not incorrect to a certain extent, now wasn’t the time for it yet, because driving Lancaster to become a hostile faction could corner the new emperor’s military with enemies coming at them from every other direction.

No matter who wins then, old Basil was not going to escape judgment.

That being said, feigning friendliness wasn’t a good idea either. Aside from protecting him, Basil’s imperial military escort were actually his imperial majesty’s loyal eyes. Despite being all brawn and no brain, they were not likely to believe Basil even if he claimed that he was merely acting polite with Lancaster’s mayor, and they would surely spice up the tale when informing the new emperor.

And though it was likely that the new emperor could see through Basil’s intentions, Basil wouldn’t want to be categorized as a potential rogue-others might not be aware, but old Basil had long since sensed that the new emperor was bent on clearing away every unstable element in the Valla Empire.

That naturally includes heirs to duchies divided from the empire itself back in its founding days, nobles who could threaten the imperial family, disobedient lords, old Tierra ministers and the like…

And since the Lancaster mayor fits both of the latter two traits, and since Lancaster was a city of trade coveted even by the imperial family, he was assuredly a target to be removed-it was just that it wasn’t known how far down the cleaning list he was.

And being able to survive to such an old age beneath his liege, Basil was as slippery as he was quick-witted—which was why he wouldn’t want anything to do with the soon-to-be rebels.

“If Sir Monan is right and the Lancaster city watch doesn’t have any strong warriors, I could have the knights assert their power in the city. Afterwards, a little warmth from me would be enough to make a strong impression.” Basil muttered to himself.

But before old Basil could come up with any better solutions, he suddenly felt his carriage coming to a stop.

“We’ve arrived?” Old Basil asked, parting the curtains while changing the look on his face. “But it doesn’t look like there’s a city ahead.”

“My lord, there is someone stopping us,” Monan said, steering his chocobo near the carriage.

He sounded perplexed.

Still, the old man didn’t think too much about it and opened the front door of the carriage to see who it was.

The figure was tall but not exactly huge, and he was standing in the middle of the road as if in a standoff against the imperial knights.

His clothing was extremely crude as well, although one could also discern the distinctly pronounced muscles beneath the old rags.

Somehow, neither his taste of fashion or the very obvious single-edged sword that was longer than most other swords were most noticeable.