Chapter 26: Third Episode: Chapter 8 (2/2)

”Yes, but I fear they may not be on this level, I think...” As if in response to Oscar's words, suddenly on one of the floors of the Palace came a blood-curdling shriek.

”Ahhh...!” The wails of one on the verge of death reverberated through the spacious and empty Palace.

When everything had died down, Snowstorm and the little prince could not help but look at each other and laugh. Then the two freaks, one big, one small, slowly strolled down the stairs. Perhaps there was nothing left in this world that could alarm them.

”Whew...” Snowstorm let off a soft whistle. It seemed as if a war had just struck Kenshin palace! Six bodies were strewn across the corridor and each of them had a wound; some had abdominal penetrations, some were pierced through the chest, some were cut at the throat, and some were beheaded.

Oscar looked at the brutal scene along the corridor and shook his head. ”Would you believe it? If mother knew what our home had become, she would certainly beat me up severely.”

”Mmm, if it were me, I would beat you up too. However, your mother has passed away. Oh, forgive me for saying this, but she indeed cannot beat you anymore! Young chap, you have avoided a vicious beating, count yourself lucky.” Snowstorm said.

”Yes, my young master, you should indeed.” Wozakad Mohamed appeared.

”Oh, my dear general, could you explain to me what just happened here?” Oscar smiled and asked his Horseman.

”You know I have a limited vocabulary. So... Uhhh... More or less, I walked in, they attacked me and I killed them. After that, I rescued those servants! That's about it.” Wozakad Mohamed already tried his best to rack his brain for those measly few Titan words.

The general just finished speaking and the corridor erupted with Snowstorm's applause. ”Very well said! I worship you!”

Oscar also broke into a smile. Based on the tragic severity of the scene, he knew this description was simplified by more than ten thousand times as compared to what he had just done. ”Hehe, Snowstorm, you're still able to rejoice in your defeat. Did you not realize that both of us have lost this match?”

Snowstorm's applause faded away. His expression seemed as depressed as if he had just swallowed a rat. ”Oh! For heaven's sake! Oh god...

Kenshin Palace's pitiful chamberlains were saved. However, the situation did not take a turn for the better. They cowed in a corner of the corridor and watched with horror as the three madmen joked together cheerfully among the pile of bodies and pools of blood.

***************

It was evident that Hamilton palace was welcoming important guests today. Fresh flowers, the symbol of Titan's Imperial Household and the flags of Titan's twenty-one provinces were everywhere. Clothed freshly and neatly, the Imperial guard's flag bearing procession were lined up from Victory Square all the way to the palace steps. According to the ancient custom of welcoming guests, the other group of knights in white attire and armor had arranged themselves in a ”T” formation. They assembled at the foot of the Tower of Heroes in the distance and guarded their own flags.

These knights had already revealed the status of the important guest that was visiting Dulin. Only his Grand Eminence the Pope could have the power to mobilize the Templar Knights. The white-armored Templar Knights occupied half of the public square. Although they dared not express any displeasure at His Grand Eminence the pope's arrangement, but they could still curse at the sun in the sky.

There were many luxurious rooms in Hamilton Palace. The simplest and cleanest room was arranged for His Grand Eminence Pope Radriere VI. Being the saint in the hearts of the Disciples of Light of the Westland, the elder's life was extremely simple and disciplined. The Doctrine of the Religion of Light was about understanding self-control and the elder totally was a role model in this aspect.

At the moment, this elderly man was performing his daily religious service. Although according to his status he should perform these duties in Dulin's Scott Cathedral or at the Titan Gate of Light, but he was already an old man of seventy-years-old! An elderly man of this age was not willing to bustle back and forth, so the formalism did not have any effect on His Grand Eminence.

Just a few minutes ago, Alfa III who was accompanying him, suddenly left the room with a meager excuse. Radriere was not offended. Although he could not hear just what the senior court officer said to His Majesty, but he could still judge from the way Alfa's face paled upon hearing those words that it was obviously a huge and exceptionally thorny matter that required him to intervene. So, being a guest, he should naturally not interfere when the host had matters to solve.

The senior court officer led Alfa III into a secret chamber. It seemed as if His Majesty had eaten some wrong medicine perhaps, for his lips kept muttering indiscernible words. The senior court officer suspected that there was something wrong with his ears because he seemed to have caught His Majesty muttering exceptionally filthy words. However, he could understand, being betrayed by a person he trusted must not be a nice feeling.

Upon seeing His Majesty's arrival, all the minsters within the secret chamber stood up in greeting. Alfa III did not intend to acknowledge them and this made the ministers feel somewhat awkward. They were indecisive whether they should take their seats following His Majesty or not. However, if His Majesty did not acknowledge them, these important men who were like rabbits dared not place their bottoms on their chairs.

Alfa III took the seat at the end of the long table. His face was gloomy and the sound that came from his throat was similar to a ferocious tiger. The whole secret chamber was enveloped in this immense pressure and the rabbits tried their best to keep their breathing in check. They were all clear about what had happened.

”Very well, my obedient darlings. Don't look as if you have just lost your parents. Since you all dared report this matter to me, then I presume you have managed to seize definitive evidence right?”

”Yes, my Majesty. The proof is authentic. The stolen documents were obtained.” Replied Count Rudolf Hoss, the person in charge of the Secret Service under the Ministry of Justice.

”Hoss, I trust that you must know my approach towards this matter. Can you bear the consequences?” Alfa III's words sounded like a threat.

Rudolf Hoss' sinister and cunning face was brimming with joy. In fact, had been overjoyed since his subordinate's discovery. After all, apprehending the Secretary of State was not something that happened every day.

”Your Majesty, by my family's honor, I guarantee you that after all the details of this matter have been made clear, the secretary of state, Duke Robinson Brickfield will kneel at your feet in remorse.”

Alfa III reclined heavily in his chair. He knew that despite the fact that the Ministry of Justice had made a lot of absurd mistakes, but at least regarding the Secretary of State's matter they would not dare speak blindly even if they had the guts of a polar bear.

His Majesty felt exhausted. The excitement he felt when chatting with the Pope about the affairs of the nation was gone. ”Sighh... tell me, choose the important points.”

”Your Majesty, please have a look.” The High Official of the Ministry of Justice, Marquis Roment Huga Andeses placed a thick file before the Emperor. Alfa III took a quick look at it. The file was one of those frequently used by the Ministry of Justice for criminal records and its cover listed all the various information about the criminal clearly.

”Robinson Brickfield, with the position of Secretary of State of the Empire, is suspected to have intelligence dealings with the Deiss Kingdom.”

”Your Majesty,” Roment called for the Emperor's attention. ”Your Majesty, it's like this, since the previous financing incident, the secret service's investigating officials started monitoring the State of Secretary, Duke Robinson Brickfield and his immediate family members.”

”According to the testimony of our confidential secretary, Duke Robinson Brickfield's access to the secret archives had evidently started to increase since last month. It included the list of secret agents of Gilcook province with the excuse of wanting to cross match with the characteristics of a missing person. Also, the investigation report on the Vendetta of the Religion of Weissdon. Your Majesty, you should know that that was actually an incident set up by the secret service. However, if His Majesty who just visited recently were to find out about it, it would be exceptionally troublesome. The most recent time was the construction plan of Valencia Fortress, which not only specified its construction structure but also briefly reveals the force of the army in the whole fortress.”

”Both my colleagues and I have decided to temporarily overlook the first two times, so let us only talk about this time. Today at eleven in the morning, Duke Robinson Brickfield took out the file, subsequently he had lunch at the State Council and our secret agents confirmed that the file never left his side and was not shown to anyone. After that, he rode in the State Council's carriage and returned to the manor.”

”In reality, the situation took a turn from there on. The Secretary of State's carriage broke down halfway and his driver immediately called for a repairman from a nearby garage. Please take note Your Majesty, the location the carriage broke down at was exceptionally close to that garage. If you were there, you would also not have believed that it was a coincidence.”

”The axle had broken apart. Your Majesty, the reason the carriage broke down was because the axle had broken apart! I understand that Marquis Almodovar Godzilla's carriage frequently experienced this problem, but what about the Secretary of State? The carriage he rode in had only been on the road for a mere few months. Furthermore, the condition of the roads in the capital is quite acceptable. What's more is that the Sir Duke's body weight is not yet an excessive degree. So, it is highly strange that the carriage would break down.”

”The carriage with the broken axle was then towed back by the garage hands, and Robinson rode in one of the garage's carriages and returned to the manor. At that time, our secret agents did not find it out of the ordinary, for it was indeed common for carriages to encounter minor problems. However, when they did a routine background check on this so-called ”Lille brothers” garage, they discovered a major problem, which was, the ”Lille brothers” were experts of perjury within the country. After receiving this news, only then did we start to consider the possibility that the secret archives may have been used illegitimately or duplicated.”

”Your Majesty, the outcome of the search of the ”Lille brothers” garage is in the last page of the file. As you can see, they were caught red-handed. When the secret agents ransacked the secret room in the garage, those men were caught processing duplicates of the file.”

”Therefore, Your Majesty, our concern now is that if we were to proceed with the next step, according to those criminals, the carriage and the copies of the file were to be sent to the Secretary of State's official residence, latest by tonight.”

Alfa III wore a permanent frown on his face, and remained silent for a long time. His Supreme's face would light up or become gloomy suddenly and no one knew what he was pondering about. He sat in his chair restlessly.

The Titan Emperor was experiencing a fierce mental struggle. He knew that no matter what the truth was, the Secretary of State could not escape his imminent miserable fate. His Majesty had already cast the suspicious Secretary of State to the back of his mind. Being the Emperor, he only cared about his own benefits; as to what those under him did, it had nothing much to do with him.

It seemed like His Majesty had completely given up on the Secretary of State. He was now debating how he could minimize the damage of this matter as much as possible. This would include the thorough investigation of the Brickfield family, the thorough investigation of the associates of the Brickfield family, the restructuring of the daily duties of the Empire State Council, and also the tracking down of the Secretary of State's henchmen. After all, it was impossible that an information leak only involved a minister. It would require cooperation from the high officials of the region and also the connivance of the supervisory institution of the Council of State.

The Emperor closed the file. He was a very shrewd man. The things he had to do next did not require much thinking. He scrutinized each and every one of the ministers in the secret chamber until those who felt uncomfortable finally spoke up.

”Roment, since I have given you full authority to settle this matter, so do what you must. Let me repeat myself, I do not care by whatever means, I only want to know how our nation's secret archives were leaked out after being copied, and how the Secretary of State came to play the role of a disgraceful traitor. Let me remind you, my Justice Minister, motive and evidence. If you lack either of these, I will charge you with the crime of defamation.

”So, my ministers, although it is difficult to predict, I believe that everyone knows the outcome of this incident, and I really hope it does not end in disaster. As for Robinson Brickfield and the whole Brickfield family, I am not just disappointed, but this feeling is more of anguish; I do not know how I am going to face this man who was once a friend and a comrade-in-arms. Everyone here is well versed in matters of law. Once this case is put into effect, remember to go by the regulations, do not be swayed by personal feelings, and even more so, do not shield him.”

Alfa III let out a heavy sigh. Although his words were vague, but to Robinson Brickfield and his family, his verdict was done.

The Emperor felt an unexplainable annoyance towards the bunny-like ministers. All he hoped now was that everyone who caused trouble would just die already. ”Why are you all standing around? Is there anything else?” His Majesty asked in an unfriendly tone.

***************

”Yes! Of course it matters! How could you think that this is insignificant? Damn you! Yes, you're like a coward who swatted all the flies dead. You have prevented the love of a pair of elks and you actually treat it as if it was nothing and go on to offer sacrifices to the gods? ”

Oscar shrugged his shoulders at Wozakad Mohamed who was listening attentively to Snowstorm's scolding. He knew that this man of a different race would not be able to follow Snowstorm's pace, but he was reluctant to explain. He felt that Snowstorm was indeed too adorable. It might be interesting to let him take some verbal insults.

”Enough Paul. Would you like to bet? Wozakad has absolutely no idea what you are talking about.” Oscar tried to help out the confused man of a different race.

”No, I will go on until he understands. He cannot be forgiven so easily.” Snowstorm was very persistent.

Oscar shook his head. He had a rough guess of the mastermind that was giving orders to the assassins. He was extremely clear about the price of this assassins' group and only a handful of people could mobilize them.

”Paul, let me put it in another way, I'm running out of time. Just in case you still feel that educating Wozakad is of utmost importance.”

The youngster indeed did not have much time left. He had to pay a visit to His Grand Eminence the Pope and Alfa III in court, followed by traveling to Dulin Scott Cathedral to run through the rehearsal of his coronation ceremony, and lastly he had to hurry back to the imperial household's secretariat. There, a tailor would be waiting for him to prepare an outfit that befits one of the imperial household's status. Finally, he had agreed to have dinner with Her Imperial Highness Princess Alanis.

What kind of life was this? The little fatty did not enjoy this kind of lifestyle. He loved adventure, challenges, scheming, and anything that had to do with the stench of blood and evil. However, Oscar was about to leave all these things behind in his life. He was well aware that the moment he became the prince, there was nothing in this world that would ever be a threat to him ever again.

Oh, that's right, there were still the assassins; Oscar was reminded by the strong stench of blood. Oscar did not want his young life to end in the hands of assassins. He racked his brain and felt that he would have achieved greater things had he be the one to use this unfortunate assassination group. If that happened, his plan would be all the more perfect.

”Gentlemen, we should really end this. Wozakad please prepare the carriage. As for you Snowstorm, would you mind if you help me with some matters?”

The King of Assassins made a filthy gesture to the silhouette of the man of a different race. Oscar was at a loss for words after watching that. The King of Assassins? Oscar made up his mind to only hire the knights of noble birth as his bodyguards in future.

”Ah! What? What was that?” Snowstorm just recovered form his extreme disdain for the horseman.

”It's like this, guard this place well. Let the servants make a report to the Ministry of Justice, then arrange to meet Thomas the Baron in my place and request him to find a painter to sketch the faces of these assassins. I want to know just who are they connected with in Dulin.”

”I dread this may be difficult.” Paul voiced out his concerns. He knew that a true assassin would not leave behind a trail that could be followed up on.

”No, those who work in the shadows would definitely hang around in the shadows. I trust that the Baron will find a way.” The little prince flashed a cunning smile.

”After that? I mean what should I do then?” Snowstorm felt a little bored.

”You could go see whether Annie is free.”

”If Annie isn't free, then what?”

Oscar narrowed his eyes and shot a glare at the King of Assassins. He did not know that this fellow was that difficult to handle. ”Then just wait until you die trying to hold in your pee.”