Chapter 76: Ninth Episode: Chapter 3 (1/2)
Chapter 76: Ninth Episode: Chapter 3
Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation
What a hectic day it has been! Even though his opera house was peaceful and quiet, it could not alleviate Thomas’s anxiety and impatience. He has been as busy as a bee throughout the day thanks to the young prince. Dealing with people from the Underworld was not an easy task. The baron managed to seal a deal with an assassin group with good reputation, and they made arrangements to go south for business.
”Was it Sakya House?” Baron asked while looking at the sky. Ah whatever! Hopefully he remembered the name right.
Assassinations carried out by disguised bandits were not that important of an incident anyway. The Southern region was a mess, and mobs were everywhere. Incidents of noble family members getting killed was not uncommon in that area.
What happened in the Dog Biting Club was something worth more attention! Baron could not help but groan. The moment when he arrived at the clubhouse, he encountered the young prince who was running towards the door with an unconscious bleeding girl in his arms, he already knew then that it was a serious matter.
As expected, the young prince did not want to listen to any words he had to say. In fact, the baron was interrupted by the prince’s stern stare before he even opened his mouth. Oh God! That fierce stare! Even when he thought about it now he would still shiver uncontrollably.
The young man entered the carriage, and so did the baron. He was not sure how the Poison Doctor was informed about the incident but Percy was already waiting outside the entrance the moment the carriage arrived at Kenshin Palace. While the Poison Doctor was treating the wounded girl, young prince described to his bodyguard about the cause of his injury. The King of Assassins, who was normally calm, listened quietly to his master, and suddenly his expression became tense. That was out of his character. It seemed like the situation was really severe, perhaps the young prince was planning to get back at Zoera and her Dog Biting Club.
Baron was a smart guy to have enquired the whole Dog Biting Club incident beforehand. In fact, he admired Lady Zoera, but this bright and beautiful lady should not have allowed her people to court trouble with the young man. That was indeed a grave mistake.
”So… Zoera, didn’t His Highness already mention his intention to return an eye for an eye?” Baron poured himself a glass of whiskey. The alcohol burned his throat, but at least it made Thomas felt a little better. He understood that the incident took place in the lair and the Red Light Street was not under his control. However, he had to make clear of his position and stand up for his master who got offended.
Perhaps… the fate of Zoera and himself was doomed with no happy ending. The good times of this lady in Dulin was about to come to an end.
Just as Ricky the Liar said before, the prince hated to be betrayed, and the baron would never betray his young master. It was completely the grace of the prince that made him who he was to this day. As a matter of fact, if it was not for the prince, the baron’s whole family would have been totally destroyed! ”Why not take the opportunity of this incident as a test?” he thought to himself. Thomas Aulet made a decision, he wanted to check if he could still hold on to his initial principles when being tested by temptations.
Baron decided that there was no need for pondering anymore. The order was made, and he would personally report the result to the prince by tomorrow.
**************
On 24th day of the 10th month, the sky showered the earth with the last downpour of the year in Dulin. The temperature dropped drastically because of the rain, and people stayed in their house to warm themselves near the burning fireplace.
The downpour seemed to have gotten worse in the afternoon, raindrops the size of beans fell violently on the rooftops of buildings. Puddles on the ground were deep enough to form a rapid, which flowed from the higher northern area to the lower southern area of the city. It split into several smaller streams at the valley south of the city, and eventually encountered each other again at the crack. Then, the accumulated dirty water changed its direction once again and flowed rapidly toward the sewer. The rest would flow slowly but steadily toward their final destination, which was the lower slope west of the city, where they would gathered and seep into the soft mud, and later evaporate into thin air.
Kenshin Palace showed its massive silhouette despite the heavy rain. It has been like that since the past century; calm, quiet, only the water channel beneath the roof gushed out streams of water loudly.
Prince O’Neil finally woke up from his sleep. The condition of the wound on his shoulder recovered quickly. Poison Doctor exclaimed in surprise at the prince’s sheer luck, because if the sharp knife slit just a little deeper than it had, the ligament that connected his arm to the shoulder might be torn and the prince would be left to live with only one arm for the rest of his life. However, Oscar only nodded slightly and reacted indifferently to the news. Everyone sensed that the prince did not bother much about his own well-being.
”Right now, I only want to know if the lady is doing well,” the prince asked Snowstorm while slowly getting dressed.
”The lady is fine. She went back to sleep after having some breakfast.”
”Fine? What do you mean that she’s fine?” Oscar hesitated, but decided to voice out his concern. ”She lost her chastity, and… and bled so much.”
”What you said was actually non-existent,” Paul could not help but laugh out loud at the confused prince.
”Non-existent?” the prince was truly baffled, ”Stop playing with your words. Tell me what actually happened?”
Paul stood up and passed over some clean clothes to his master, ”It is inevitable that the incident last night has wounded her psychologically, but I assure you she is completely well physically. That fat pig did not contaminate her chastity. As for the blood, you know, ladies bleed each month regularly, it just so happened that yesterday was one of those days.”
”Ola! I see!” Oscar nodded in understanding. ”It must be the great fortune in the midst of bad luck?”
”Exactly, the great fortune in the midst of bad luck.” Paul followed suit and nodded back at his master.
”Oh, right!” Oscar suddenly remembered something, ”Have you been here all this while?”
”Of course, I have decided to always be in a periphery of ten meters to ensure your safety. I will never leave my position ever again!” the King of Assassins replied in a crisp and clear voice, ”What happened yesterday was all due to my negligence. Dulin has become so much more dangerous that I thought. How is it possible that those creatures actually existed in this place! Do you know? The fella who stabbed you with a small knife yesterday was Ghost Dog.”
”Ghost Dog?” Oscar vaguely heard of this name a long time ago before, ”The Cerberus from hell?”
”Exactly!” Paul recalled from memory, ”A three-edged drill, a spiral knife, a short sword, this is the gatekeeper for the hellish Underworld – Cerberus.”
Oscar was astonished, ”You seem to know a lot about the Ghost Dog?”
”Of course, those three tormenting teeth has left their marks on me before. That was also why I can be sure that you were attacked by Ghost Dog, because I have the exact same scar on my body like the one you have on your shoulder.”
”You have fought against him before?” the young man’s interest was piqued. He knew that Ghost Dog was yet another top-notch assassin right after Thirteen and Snowstorm.
”Yes,” Snowstorm took in a long breath. It was obvious that he was a little agitated.
”And how was the end result?”
”The end result is right in front of your eyes. I’m sitting here chatting nonsense with you while Ghost Dog has turn into a mute, watching after the place called Dog Biting Club.”
”Haha! He is right where he belongs then!” Oscar laughed, ”Oh! Was it you who cut his tongue?”
”No!” Snowstorm let out another sigh, ”He did it to himself. I can still remember that scene vividly. One day, he decided to come over to challenge me, but eventually did not defeat me even after laying all his cards. In the end, he cut off his own tongue to indicate that he would never speak again, which means that even until now no one knows how I look like.”
”He’s not too bad of a fella!” Oscar gasped in admiration.
”Not really! He did so to save his own skin, he knew I would have killed him otherwise.”
”Ola!” young man nodded. ”Let’s go check on that lady, what is she called? I’ve not had the chance to ask her yesterday.”
”Aeolia Siva Wimmester.”
”Aeolia!” Dumbfounded, Oscar repeated her name.
**************
The rain was still pouring, and the sky turned so grey it made people depressed. The streets were covered in mud, and the ground arranged itself to form several gullies. Strong wind shook dark green leaves off the branches to land on the muddy puddles.
Unlike the magnificent Kenshin Palace, Tacheles Fortress, which stood in the heart of the imperial palace complex, appeared to be somewhat out of the place. Although from the exterior it looked no different from any other usual fortress, it has actually been the sleeping quarters of Morisette’s emperor and queen throughout the dynasties. Even after four centuries of frosty rain and snow, Tacheles Fortress remained strong in guarding the emperor of Morisette Dynasty from any form of danger.
The carriage of Ferdinand family wagon was being inspected at the gate of Tacheles Fortress. The dark paint of the carriage and its golden thread which hung on the door clearly portrayed the identity of its owners.
Despite their prestige position in the social hierarchy, the owners of the carriage were not exempted from being inspected by the Imperial Guards of Capital Security Division. The defences of Tacheles Fortress were the strictest in the whole capital city of Dulin. A lieutenant colonel and his guards meticulously inspected every detail of the carriage from top to bottom. After rounds of thorough inspection to ensure there was no hidden weaponry in the carriage, the lieutenant colonel finally blew on the whistle that hung casually on his chest.
The steel gates were raised slowly. At last, the carriage of Duke Kachev Drakas Ferdinand rode into the emperor’s fortress.
Alfa III received his teacher in the main reception hall of the small fortress. He then planted a kiss on the cheek of his teacher’s daughter politely. Perhaps because of the weather, Marquise Ferdinand trembled slightly when the emperor’s lips met with her own cheek. Initially, she wanted to stay for the night but was later unsure about her decision when she sensed the emperor was being cold to herself.
The emperor invited the old duke into his study, where they were met with a big group of people. They first saluted to the emperor before extended their dear regards toward old Kachev.
The room was filled with most, if not all, of the principal ministers of the empire. It appeared that the emperor had called on an extremely confidential meeting.
The officers invited to the meeting included Marquis Almodovar Godzilla from Ministry of Finance, Marquis Roment Huga Andeses from Ministry of Justice, Marquis Yael Owen from Tax Bureau, Military Affairs Chancellor Marshal Alan, Chief of Staffs of Imperial Guards Marshal Valier Cypress, Commander of Home Base Capital Admiral Fabia Munlurgh, and Speaker of the Ministry of Senior Nobility Duke Cadro Budisette.
Actually, there were more people in the room than those aforementioned. Even though they were less well-known by the public compared to the others, their contribution in formulating the empire’s policies was equally important.
The appearance of old Kachev was rather unexpected by the crowd. Even though most of the people seemed to be kind and respectful toward the old man, they secretly disliked him. The old duke was not being his most respectful self either. In his opinion, only a few from the crowd really knew their business.
The emperor briefly summarised the intention and direction of his planned reformation, while the ministers obediently praised at His Majesty’s brightness and nodded at all appropriate times. They had to, as the emperor’s appeared incredibly determined about his idea. However, the ministers were somewhat sceptical as this has not happened before for the past decade or so. Was the emperor provoked by someone or something unusual? He was already in his fifties, this was not the age for one to pull their socks up and make an effort to become strong.
It appeared that only Duke Cadro Budisette - the Speaker of the Ministry of Senior Nobility, was suspicious about the motive behind the emperor’s sudden motion. On his way to the fortress, he had thoroughly read over the preliminary investigation report written by the Secret Service Department regarding several of those distinguished families. The duke was aware of the approaching Great Purge, and he also knew that the reports handed over to him by the emperor only consisted a tiny part of the information obtained.
”If this is the truth, then I have nothing more to add on. I believe the members of Ministry of Senior Nobility would know how to make a choice,” the duke eventually relented.
Alfa III nodded indifferently. It was not because His Majesty has become extremely astute out of the blue, it was just that development of events has placed him in an absolutely superior position.
Next, Chief of Staffs of Imperial Guards Marshal Valier Cypress was asked to present a brief summary of the chaotic uproar that happened in the south. Even though the Southern Region has stabilized the situation, but the number of insurgents has grown to a considerably dangerous size. It was fairly obvious that they received support from some strong influencers.
However, the prospects of appeasing the internal strife seemed to be the good so far. Although the southern mountainous region was not suitable for deployment of a large-scale troops, it still would not be easy for the inhabitants there - who were mostly untrained, to resist the attack of regular army. However, the empire and the aristocracy of the south suffered a considerable huge loss in this chaotic event. The effects of the riot on the capital has also been shown; when the commodities from Italia and Faran disappeared from the market, the price of various kinds of handmade products and light industrial products inevitably doubled up.
”If this condition continues, I’m afraid…afraid that…we would suffer…suffer …an economic crisis.”
Alfa III threw a contemptuous look at the stuttered finance minister, ”Okay Godzilla, you’ve said enough. You should conserve the energy of yours to govern your ministry, and not deal with cats or dogs.”
Godzilla placed his hand over to the bandage that covered his neck. He knew that nothing in Dulin could escape the emperor’s attention. He wanted to stand up from his seat to apologise to the emperor, but the latter motioned him not to do so.
”So, my dear military affairs chancellor, when can the southern riot be completely held down?” Alfa III pressed for a time limit.
”Your Highness,” from his seat, Marshal Alan bowed slightly toward the emperor, ”If I may I ask for your forgiveness, this is a military emergency that cannot be realized within a short period of time. The riot happened so sudden, and the weakly defended southern inland provides great opportunities for the insurgents. They captured several fortresses located in strategically inaccessible places, and although the Imperial Guards are capable of retrieving the control on the lost cities and towns in the short term, but these fortresses…”
Alan hesitated before continuing, ”These fortresses can be breached, but if the insurgents go into the mountains and challenge us to a guerrilla warfare then it would really be a huge problem, I even predict their shift to the borders of Italia or of Faran Kingdom when the fight becomes unfavourable. As a result, our counterinsurgency movement will become a long-term process. Regarding this, I have already arrived at a consensus with the Chief of Staff Marshal Valier.”
The chief of staff seated beside military affairs chancellor nodded his head, ”Yes, Your Majesty, Marshal Alan’s analysis of the incident is detailed and correct in many ways. In such a short period of time, it is not possible for us to effectively put an end to the riot. As you might have known, this riot is very different from the ones that have happened in the past. Unfortunately, we still cannot grasp the gist of this event. Furthermore, the Secret Service Department did not give us any useful intelligence or good support.”
The emperor turned his head away in annoyance. Despite the debauching war in the south, his military leaders have already said so clearly their stance on this issue. He knew it would be to no avail to further exert pressure on them again.
The discuss about the war was put to a pause as Alfa III did not want to crack his head on this troublesome problem anymore. The person in charge of the Secret Service Department - Rudolf Hoss was already on his way down south to personally preside over the spying work there, and Alfa III has confidence in his number one confidant. This was anyhow much of a good omen.
A few moments later, the emperor began discussing with the ministers regarding details concerning the establishment of a cabinet system. Interestingly, however, the old Kachev who urged the emperor to implement such a system remained on his seat quietly without saying a word. When the meeting was finally over and the ministers retreated accordingly from the study, they could not help but glance at the old duke in astonishment. They realised that the old man remained rooted on his seat with no intention to leave, he must be waiting for the moment to discuss something of importance with the emperor alone. What trick was this old fox playing again this time? All the ministers cried in frustration from the bottom of their heart!
The emperor casually leaned on his throne, which was a high-backed chair with its corner decorated from the gold thread. The old duke remained silent, he noticed the emperor was in the midst of thinking.
”Philip, keep everyone out of the door, and command Paladins to guard, armed.”
Confidential Secretary Philip Goolean was astounded at the command. The emperor issued an order to kill any intruder, how unusual!
Even though laden with questions, the confidential secretary did as he was told and shut the door.
”My teacher, you should have told me.” At last, Alfa III broke the silence.
”Tell you about what?” old Kachev looked at the emperor.
”About your grandson, Viscount Minsk Drakas Ferdinand. Are you planning to hold back the truth from me forever?”
”No, Your Majesty!” the old duke laughed silently in his heart, but his expression remained the same seriousness. ”Actually, you should have guessed when you requested the Secret Service Department to inspect my grandson. Since I’ve brought the child back to Dulin, it means that I no longer have the intention to conceal the secret anymore.”
”Ahhh….” Alfa III wished he could release all the depression that had accumulated beneath himself along with that long sigh. He still vividly remembered how dumbfounded he was the first time he encountered Viscount Minsk Drakas Ferdinand at the party of day 20th. It was an indescribable feeling, it was as if his whole brain stopped functioning.
Even though the result that came back from Secret Service Department did not state hundred percent that the child was his own son, but one thing was confirmed, the date of birth of the child. He was born on year 769 day 17th of the 9th month, and his mother, Marquise Ferdinand was married to her husband on the 5th month, in other words Erdogan delivered the baby only after four months of her marriage. Moving a little bit more backward, on the end of year 768, that was when Doran had left Dulin. And before that happened, Alfa III was well aware of that night when he took the chastity of an innocent young girl, and so...
”Kachev Drakas Ferdinand, you have intentionally concealed the birth of a imperial family member,” the emperor had enough of beating around the bush.
”Your Majesty, I’ve only concealed from you the birth of this child, regarding imperial family… I reckon it’s better to let the sleeping dogs lie!”
”You reckon? Who do you think you are to make such a decision? What rights do you have to do so?” Alfa II left his seat and dashed angrily to the front of the old duke.