Chapter 47: Sixth Episode: Chapter 2 (2/2)
4th day of 7th month, the First Army of Military District Seven reunited with the First Mountain Corps. The rescue mission truly come to an end at this point.
The twist and turns of the mountain road seemed to become wider after the cleansing of the rain, but it still caused a lot of trouble for the marching people. The dark places were full of dirt while the sunny ridge was full of wrinkles that looked like the marks left behind after the flood water dried up. The Prince and the Princess were determined to walk with the injured knights. This obviously reduced the marching speed of the whole army.
For both the Prince and the Princess, it was their very first time following the march of the whole army. The troops on the mountain road spread for five miles. They brought all of their light-weight tools according to the rules. The tools consisted of large crossbow machines that needed to be controlled by four people and small daggers for the situation of close combat.
The mountain warriors showed off their simple and hardworking aspects. They used all sorts of tools to eliminate the obstacles in the journey. They used their hands to solve any challenges in the mountains. For them, it was nothing more infuriating than seeing Her Royal Highness Princess of the royal family being attacked, especially within their defense area. The most difficult fact to accept was that the Italians who would not even dare to raise their heads when they saw the Titan dared to initiate such a plot that has no difference than a declaration of war.
Yes! The mountain warriors clenched their fists. Once the Ministry of Justice and the officers of the Secret Service Department confirmed the identity of those mercenaries, then the Italia Kingdom would receive the counter attack from more than ten mountain corps at the border of the Titan. On top of that, these attacks were lawfully right! The armed organization of Italia dared to attack the member of the royal family. This action was the same as challenging the right of the whole Titan nation.
Sir Commander of the First Army, District Seven ordered the three paladins under him and the whole ‘Snowlion’ assault team to protect the carriage of the Princess and the Prince. This Commander had the same thought as Lieutenant Colonel Hyatt. The offense of neglecting his duty could not be pardoned! Now all he could do was to ensure to his best ability that nothing happened to the Princess and the Prince in their journey. What came after that? The Commander wiped his cold sweat off. There would not be anything after that! Just wait for the letter from the Army Division and the Royal Secretariat to fire him off with strict words! He suspected that the managerial level of the Military District Seven would be completely cleansed by His Majesty the Emperor after this event no matter what. Maybe the punishment would spread to the whole administration and military department in three provinces in the mountainous area.
Upon looking at the mountain warriors all over the hills, Sir Commander took off his dark brown leather hat. This could be his last time commanding this troop! This sudden catastrophe would bring avalanche-like consequences. He could not believe the scaredy-cat Italia royal family would dare to participate in the conspiracy of endangering the member of Titan royal family. He also did not want to believe that there were Guards who dared to bear the risk of elimination of their family and opened up the borders for the mercenaries. Looking from outside and within Titan, who was this god-damned guy that would dare to do plan such a thing?
”Kachev Drakas Ferdinand!” When Her Royal Highness Princess Alanis Alfa Morisette said this name, she looked exactly like the fierce bobcat she held in her arm right now.
As expected, as if detecting the unfriendly aura of its master, the small bobcat LeFou immediately scratched the little Prince who was teasing it!
Oscar stared at the bloody scratches on his hand. The young lad’s expression also became really unfriendly. The Princess ignored him. Instead, she carefully patted and consoled LeFou as she sent a warning glare to the little Prince who was about to make a move.
Even though the young lad was furious, he still acted as if nothing had happened. His gaze fell on the scene outside of the window of carriage. He could see the small city not far away in front. Currently, his enormous group was considered not far away from that place.
”Did you say Kachev Drakas Ferdinand? That slick fox. You should go back and ask your father. It was afraid that Alfa III His Majesty hates the old Kachev more than you did, you know? His Majesty once mentioned this to me: the movement of the old Kachev had always been closely monitored by the Secret Service Department. Do you think that old fox is smart enough to plan such a conspiracy without getting found out by the secret agents?”
Oscar did not continue his talk. He knew the members of the royal family seemed to harbor great hatred towards the old Duke. Even though he was attacked, he was still unclear on what set-up needed to be done to realize such attacks.
”Alanis, we must admit that this guy who initiated this must have an enormous force. Think about this. He was able to arrange assassins in the army without anyone knowing and contact the mercenary through the military organization of Italia. Then, he allowed the traitor by the border to infiltrate Titan and utilize the inner spy to accurately initiate the final attack!” Oscar used his fingers to count. ”I used four sentences to explain this event, but do you know how much human resources, substances and wealth our enemy must have in order to realize these four sentences?”
The Princess finally spoke. ”Yes! I clearly understand what you’re going at, and what you said must be the truth! But except for that old fox, I truly could not think of anybody else pulling a scheme like this off. You once doubted General Alan, but that was proven to be theory without basis. And that is to say, in the current Titan, there is only the old Duke who has high power in both the military and politics and has the ability to initiate such an attack.”
Oscar knitted his eyebrows. Actually, Kachev Drakas Ferdinand was also his first target to doubt, but he could not convince himself from the aspect of the motive of the crime. He never had any sort of arguments with this old Duke. What about the Princess? It seemed that the Princess’s situation in Dulin was pretty much the same as himself. They both have the beautiful coat on them that resembles the top-class members of the royal family. Other than this, they have neither status nor power.
”Alanis, your method of eliminating potential suspects cannot truly find out the true criminal behind this. If it was not Alan, then it must be old Kachev? How can things be so simple? I believe this must be a person who stays very deep in the water. He quietly stays in the dark to create every opportunity that benefits him.”
The Princess sighed. She believed the news of her being attacked was already on the way to Dulin! According to the character of her father, he would stubbornly investigate matters that endangered his family. Then with a little imagination, the army would bear an offense of having an inefficient and lazy management. The Military District Seven would be finished! There would be a large change in the local government in the three provinces in the southern mountain area!
Then... The Princess’s eyes suddenly brightened up.
”I got this, Oscar! Even though this matter became obscured after this assassination event, at least there will be some things that could help us find some hints.” Alanis excitedly held the young lad’s arm.
”What kind of things? What kind of hints?” The Prince was a little confused. He could not think of where the answers to the questions could be.
”Didn’t you say this?” The Princess jewel-like blue eyes blinked a bright light that was just like a fountain. ”Didn’t you say our death would not change much of the current situation? Then what about District Seven? What about the three southern provinces? We were not injured at the moment, but my father would definitely not pardon the people related to this incident. Then it is not that hard to guess! The person behind this must have thought of the consequences. Maybe he is just waiting for the Empire’s readjustment of power towards the southern land. And we are simply two unfortunate people in this conspiracy!”
”Alanis!” The Prince groaned. He suddenly became wide-eyed! ”Yes! My dear Princess! You are a genius! It is definitely this way! Why attack us at this place? Why were the ones who attacked us not some assassins of incredible skills? Instead, he used a whole mercenary group in a large-scale attack? If it was an assassination, then the method should be as careful as possible, like poisoning and sniping. Why did he use a whole mercenary to increase the indeterminacy of the whole action?”
Oscar was a little excited as well. He thought that Alanis was absolutely an analyst. At least this young lady’s brain was smarter than his was. The young lad continued. ”So you are exactly on point! A wrong timing, a wrong location and wrong executors! This is illogical! If I was to kill someone, I will use the wicked way to let my target die in his dream. I won’t even leave any traces behind. But I have no reason at all to send an army to destroy the house of my target. If I was to really send out an army, then I will face the same situation as now. The house is half destroyed, but I miss my target. In the end, I am completely buried by the enemy who came rushing to assist my target. What is all of this for then? I totally have a better plan!”
”Yes! Yes! Yes!” Alanis kept nodding her head. She felt proud of the one quick thought that ran through her head! ”There was no need to create so much hassle over a single assassination. Moreover, attacking the capable Narcissus Knight itself was already a wrong decision. Now, great! Everyone has their attention diverted by this daring assassination move! We are still trying our best to find the enemy. The generals of the Military District Seven should pray that they can keep their roles in the army. The local government servants in the three southern provinces may not know about this matter just yet, I believe. But maybe there would be evidence appearing that is against them. And all of these would completely end when my father’s rage burns the southern sky! After the cleansing, the people with rising influence in the south would be the primary suspects!”
Oscar did not reply the Princess. And Alanis eventually became silent after the initial excitement. The framework of the conspiracy seemed to have found, but they felt a sudden chill in their bodies.
Most of the mountain warriors sent the carriage of the Prince and the Princess off into Dopter City. They have just received the new orders from their military commander. Surrounding Dopter, the First Army was to form four defense lines that closed off every road that led to the city. Among the blockade area included the whole west coast of Rillson Drake Lake. Since it was a blockade, then it literally meant that no one was allowed to leave or enter.
Maybe such an order to strictly guard the place was not reliable, the commander of the First Army added another statement to that order. It said that every family in the Dopter area including the city must have a guard to ensure that there was no possibility of any spies in the city. As for the gangsters and homeless who hung around the street, the commander added another statement: since the Princess of the Empire and the Prince have visited the city, soldiers were ordered to initiate ‘final cleaning’ of all kinds of rubbish in order to ensure a good image of the city!
The citizens of the city did not even know what happened! The strong First Mountain Corp ‘Snowlion’ rang the alarm that signaled war in the middle of the night. Some innocent young lads even thought that the National Day or the celebration of the God of Light came early! After being frightened, the people only realized that the ‘Snowlion’ has departed. Even though this was a prideful moment, the people living a peaceful life was scared out of their life from the sudden enemy! Italians? It might be the Faran! In general, the city has been drowned in fright and confusion since the First Mountain Corps left.
This situation continued until the First Army returned. Even though the people resumed their daily activities, the countless busy soldiers in the city increased the fear and anxiety of the citizens. On top of that, this time was even weirder! These soldiers in the mountain did not even tell the citizens about what truly happened! Not only they were not asked to evacuate like the previous war, but no one explained to them why they could not go out to the streets. Apparently, even the Sir Mayor could not get any information out of the officers. This was truly odd!
Oscar looked at the scenery outside of the window in boredom. There was nothing in this city that interested him. There were no fresh flowers, no welcoming crowd, not even a single shadow of the citizens! There was only the sharp noise of the carriage pushing on the bluestone pavement. And also the neat and dull enormous sound when the Guards marched forward.
The Prince’s team passed the whole city. The station of the First Mountain Corps was at the other side of the city. The remaining unit of the troop already received the notice beforehand. They prepared a few spacious and clean camps for the injured Narcissus Knights and also invited doctors and nurses from within and outside of the mountain. They prepared a suitable mansion for these guests of high social status. This mansion used to be the museum where the First Mountain Corps displayed their war medal, but the objects on display for the purpose of bragging and remembrance inside have already been cleaned out. The soldiers rearranged the tables and beds in the mansion. Even though it was a bit messy, it still seemed to be a rather well-furnished place to stay.
For safety purposes, the Guards did not arrange any marching event. The carriage of the big shots quietly stopped in front of the door of the museum at the site. A few soldiers quickly tidied up the few luggages of these big shots. In this process, Annie almost shed tears for a few times. She was rather too fixated on her preference for the luggage.
A Captain of the First Army performed a Knight’s greetings to the Princess outside of the carriage. But when he planned to open the door for the Princess, his face burned up in embarrassment. The door knob did not move a bit. It seemed the two Sir and Lady have locked themselves in it!
Oscar pulled open the lock on the carriage door from inside. He suddenly turned back and stared at Alanis. The Princess and he kept silent after they ended their conversation half an hour ago. He knew the Princess would think of the question he thought of just now, but he could not help but remind the Princess!
”Dear Alanis, if that person truly has such spirit, such spirit to intentionally murder a member of the royal family for his own benefit, then I must say that the Morisette Kingdom has already lost the power of the royal family loved by the God! Moreover, once the Emperor’s rage truly burns in the south, then that person would undoubtedly get his way. Think about it. Why would that person hope the Emperor would cleanse the military system in the three southern provinces? I have enough reasons to suspect that this person has the ability to attain the actual control of the three southern provinces after this incident. If it is that way... then... The Morisette Kingdom is only one step away from destruction!” The young lad pulled the Princess’ cold hands. ”You are smarter than I am. If the royal family of an Empire loses the power to control its people, then it will lose the ruling foundation that its survival is based on. And that is the actual right to control its land and people!”
The Prince pushed the door open. The Princess was behind him. Both of them looked a bit exhausted, but the young lad’s expression still appeared normal. But the Princess of Morisette completely lost all blood on her face. She looked like a lone goose that has lost its way. Her eyes were empty and she appeared fairly exhausted. She let the Prince hold her hand as they walked among the formation of the soldiers like a sea of humans.
”You are smarted than I am, Alanis. You know that I am not spouting rubbish.” Oscar held the Princess and paused at the doorway leading to the hall.
”We love this country... Those citizens who are supposed to be loyal to us... have already created a huge problem!”
That was what the young lad said in the end.
The initiation of military control in Dopter has already gone on for a whole week! The citizens were starting to get impatient. Until some naughty gangsters were dead hanging on a tree that the people truly realized the exact definition of military control.
Any behavior that could cause misunderstanding would receive strict punishment. As compared to the citizens who began doubting the event, the officers of the First Army were not any better! The political intuition of the soldiers were never that sensitive to begin with, but the official news that came from Dulin clearly told them that the royal family was planning to reinforce the discipline of the army. The officers could not say any more until this point! It was right at this moment when the royal family planned to make a move that the Princess and Prince of the Empire were attacked by a foreign armed force in District Seven!
No matter if it was a high-ranked officer or a low-ranked officer, they were all clear that this was not a normal incident of treason. They even knew that this would cause a war and cause a new cycle of cleansing.