Chapter 38: The burning capital? (4) (1)<strong> Trantor: yAmi</strong>


    The revolting mob in the city. The outbreak of fires in various locations. The illegal trespassing of the noble district by the rioters. Due to the various abnormalities urring in Broussonne, the Lavallee residence was thrown into an uproar.


    Report the situation! What in the world is happening in the city!?


    Look at the number of theming here! Are they targeting some noble!?


    Lavallees retainers and trusted confidants were busy contacting the ces in question to gather information, but their progress was slow. There were two main reasons.


    How is our contact with the pce!? The telepathy with the court magician...


    Its not working! There isnt any jamming, but the other side is not responding! Could it be because of what happened to Count Cartan!?


    Grr...Damn magician, how can they let personal emotions interfere at this time!


    That was the first reason. Due to Lavallees ploy, the former court magician, Count Cartan, lost his standing. The High Court found Cartan guilty of misconduct, but it was already well known that Lavallee and Tullius Oubeniel had a secret feud and Cartan was simply coteral damage.


    The current court magician could no longer find Lavallee trustworthy ever since he sold out a fellowrade and abandoned him when the n failed. Now, in times of importance, he could not make contact with the magician.


    The other reason was


    Now that it hase to this, shall we call back the spies at the Oubeniels?


    Yes, it was Tullius Shernan Oubeniel. The culprit responsible for Count Cartan losing his ce in society and for damaging Marquis Lavallees name. A dangerous existence who created so much trouble for a ve. In order to keep up surveince on him, he had split up arge portion of his espionage team. Lavallee had started the espionage way before the trial ever started; the day after the wedding when Uni came under his control. The measure to keep up surveince on Tullius had backfired, causing Lavallee tock the ability to gather sufficient information in an emergency.


    Thus, his retainer was considering pulling back the spies.


    No. Let the people monitoring Tullius remain.


    My Lord, but this...!


    Because the capital is in dire straits? All the more reason to keep our eyes on him.


    Lavallee looked stern. It was the timing. Tullius had taken back Uni and no longer had a reason to stay in the capital, and yet, this situation was happening. He could not help but feel that this event was connected to Tullius.


    If that was the case, that man was trying to start something. That was Lavallees prediction.


    We wont know if that chap might see an opportunity and ride on the chaos.


    Even if he was not the mastermind behind the riots, he might still attempt to take advantage of the situation. With that possibility in mind, he did not think it was the time to pull back surveince on him.


    Lavallees retainers reluctantly lowered their heads.


    As you wish. However, our information ising slowly...


    I know. I will not find fault in the dy as long as it is reasonable.


    As he said, Lavallee touched a tool hiding in his bosom. It was amunication tool powered by magic that he had imported from, as much as it annoyed him, St. Gallen. He should receive word from the spies through this if they spot Tullius taking action.


    And he had two of these.


    The first was formunication between him and the group that was observing the Oubeniel residence. The other was between him and the group observing the ves at the inn. Either one of these would report back if that person was indeed nning something. With this, he could easily catch him by the tail.


    (He was an alchemist too. Surely he would have a simr tool. There was no way he would overlook such a possibility.)


    It was a favourite trick of alchemist to make magic-infused tools. It was likely that Tullius knew how to do it. He had already seen the report by the spy that Linus sent to Man. Apparently Tullius had made a giant freezer. Aside from its usefulness, it was aplex product that could only be created by a high level of skill. Thus, it would hardly be surprising if Tullius possessed a simrmunication tool.


    Which meant that he would order the ves he brought to the capital with this tool if he wanted to do something amidst the chaos in the capital. Else, Due or his otherbat personnel, including Uni who he got back the day before, would take action from the Oubeniel residence.


    (I might have been overly worried...Well, just in case.)


    Naturally, Tullius might bepletely unrted to the riots. The rioters have murdered some of the residents and attacked the noble district...Nobody would bat an eye if they were executed based on rebellion. If Tullius was found connected to this incident, he would not be able to escape the death penalty. It was extremely risky for him to try anything now. The moment Tullius ns are found out, he would face doubts and unwanted scrutiny.


    Still, Lavallees years of experience told him that Tullius was behind this incident. Hence, he did not reduce the surveince on Tullius.


    In addition, even if he failed to deal with the violence that was probably incited by Tullius, he would not be inconvenienced in the slightest. Lavallee was without a position in the pce. The ones that have their responsibilities were the current prime minister, cab ministers and generals.


    Furthermore, he heard that most of the members of the rioters were some noisy people called activists. They mostly came to the capital toin about the tyrannical acts by the local lords. The more violence that erupts from this, the more material he could use against the decentralist faction. Of course, he would be troubled if the King meets with mishap by attacks on the pce... but Lavallee did not think the rioters would amount to much fighting power. Their security forces in the capital were not weak and fragile. In fact, a bunch ofmoners taking up shabby arms might not even be a match for the private bodyguards of nobles.


    He had nothing to lose by not taking action. As such, Lavallee could prioritise ns against Tullius.


    His decision was in some sense correct, yet in some sense, a mistake.


    The activist started off their attack with Viscount Dorians mansion. One after another, they broke in either from climbing over the wall or breaking in from the front gates. They raised angered chants, trampled upon the nts and smashed whatever sculptures or statues they encountered in the garden.


    Open up! Get outta there! Corrupted nobles!


    Come out obediently to pay for your crimes!


    The owner of the mansion looked at them from above, through a window on the second floor. The Viscount was wearing his sleeping gown, as though he had finished a meal and just took a leisurely bath. He clicked his tongue in displeasure.


    ...What are these disgusting people up at my house for?


    While talking to himself, he held out his hand. A woman standing idly nearby carefully passed a cup of whiskey to him. The woman wore a silver cor on her neck. She was a ve.


    Normally, a noble would not have ves near him. They had to consider the damage to their reputation if there was a person of such lowly status by their side. However, it was a separate matter altogether if the ve was an outlet for their desires. This was only limited to beautiful ves. They were usually made inconspicuous on formal asions, though there were some nobles who would openly present their ves in private gatherings with nobles of simr interests. In fact, it went beyond presenting and the ves might be loaned out for a night. Just one facet of the degeneracy in the privileged ss.


    Dorian was also such a noble. He set a high tax rate on hisnd and only attended to the royal capital once every few years. He interacted with simrly degenerate nobles and bought ves. He was the stereotypical corrupt noble that these activists hated.


    Brow arched in frustration, he slurped on his cup of whiskey. The ice hit the sides of the cup and made a ng sound. The luxury of enjoying liquor with ice was reserved only for nobles.


    How long are the nobles going to let these people do as they want?


    The men lined up in the room looked sternly at Viscount Dorians back as he said. They were private bodyguards hired by this family. He was about to have his fun with his ve when the incident happened. The representative of the bodyguards spoke.


    Yes. We will now repel them. So that no undue harmes towards my lord, please wait for us here.


    Cut to the chase...hurry up and go!


    Yes!


    The men quickly moved after being sent off by their master, who was obviously irked. As they were walking in the corridors, one of the bodyguards asked.


    Boss. We finally have something to do but are we going to be paid as per our contract?


    Their master, Dorian, was angered by the rebelsying waste to his garden. At times like this, there were some stingy nobles who would take this out on them by refusing to pay ording to the contract. The mansion had been damaged, so you cannot im to have performed your job was the excuse. From the perspective of the bodyguards, they were employed to protect the noble, so under circumstances like this, obviously they should be paid. However, there were some narcissistic nobles who prioritised their own feelings and refused to listen to logic.


    The boss of the bodyguards sighed.


    Dont worry, lets go wrap it up. Even now, surely he would be increasingly angered.


    Hehe. Oh boy, we might have picked the wrong master.


    In any case, it looked like getting paid here would be tough. However, all of this was putting the cart before the horse. They would never have to worry about their pay from now on.