Chapter 221: Big Figures, Small Figures

Thick double-layered asbestos cloth was evenly coated with molten lead. It was pulled tight and sealed at all four corners, making the window completely airtight.

Even though the conference room was brightly lit, no one outside could see anything.

Only the slightly open door let out a faint, dim yellow glow, making the corridor in front of it half-lit and half-dark.

It was late at night, but people still kept going in and out of the door. The files in their hands suggested that things inside were incredibly busy.

In the conference room, which had no decorations but looked tough and grand due to its structure, Viscount Bolerum was writing furiously.

His tangled hair looked like it had been stuck together with glue, forming clumps. It seemed he hadn’t cleaned it for several days.

Next to him, a man who looked to be around forty years old was curled up on a soft couch. A squire was carefully giving him a head massage. That man was Duke Claudius Cokele Garfield, who seemed to be resting.

Apart from these two main figures, the hall was full of people, just like a modern command center. Everyone was very busy, with endless tasks and piles of documents, but their movements were always quiet, and they spoke in very low voices so as not to wake up Duke Garfield.

Duke Garfield was not known for being diligent in government affairs in the past. Since Viscount Bolerum entered his sight many years ago, although he couldn’t be said to have become a hands-off leader, he was clearly a model of trusting those he employed!

Of course, many knight-lords had this kind of weakness to some degree. Only families like the House Bolerum, which were so focused and good at administration, were truly outliers in this group. It was precisely because they were so rare that they were considered so precious!

But in the last few months, the Duke, who usually preferred staying at the training ground, had been working in the conference room for more than eight hours every day. As for Viscount Bolerum, who was responsible for handling major government affairs and sorting information, his daily work hours were even over fifteen.

After closing his eyes and resting for about half an hour on the couch, Duke Garfield suddenly opened them. He sat up straight and stretched his muscles, immediately making a cracking sound like someone playing mahjong.

Feeling that his face was a bit greasy, he immediately told the squire behind him: “Bring a cold towel. I want to wipe my face.”

The squire immediately gave orders, and soon a group of people walked in carrying a full set of toiletries. But he had no interest in carefully cleaning up under the servants’ care. After roughly grabbing a towel and wiping his face, he turned his gaze to the table in front of him.

Under a hexagonal, one-foot-long pillar, there was a thick stack of parchment. Facing north, these were documents organized by Viscount Bolerum while the Duke had been dozing off.

“These skunks really can’t be cleaned thoroughly no matter how hard you try!” Looking at the first document in front of him, Duke Garfield sighed.

The “skunks” here referred to the spies that the Kingdom of Lucia had constantly planted in the Duchy of Nohan over the years, as well as the intelligence network formed by their bribed secret agents.

From the sudden goblin raid at the end of last year and the problems that emerged during the subsequent investigation, it was made very clear to everyone that the Duchy’s current intelligence network was probably as full of holes as a sieve.

At that time, Duke Garfield even suspected that all systems other than the military within the country were compromised. He suspected that his officials were contacting Lucia through various channels. He was even more suspicious that the intelligence department had been infiltrated by the enemy, and the reports coming back from various places were either fake or carefully screened.

The first round of the purge began. Just within the government, a spy network of more than sixty people was directly exposed before him. Then, a bloody storm was inevitable. Treason was an unforgivable crime in any time or place.

After this cleanup, the efficiency of the government agencies did not drop due to the temporary lack of personnel; instead, it seemed to rise slightly. This even made Viscount Bolerum, who was in charge of this matter, scratch his head in confusion.

It could only be said that the intelligence organization system in this world was not perfect. Bought personnel often couldn’t focus on their work and instead lived in constant fear, worrying all day long.

In the existing system that was almost becoming bureaucratic, such people often appeared diligent and hardworking but actually had little ability. Sometimes they even made simple things complicated, belonging to the type who couldn’t move up in position for a thousand years. Of course, if they made mistakes on purpose sometimes, it was relatively easy for others to accept.

Even if these guys couldn’t access truly confidential documents, they made up for it by leaking information slowly but steadily.

On the other hand, high-level spies who could climb to the other side’s upper ranks and truly penetrate the enemy’s interior were extremely difficult to appear under the current system. Those guys were the real examples of being hardworking and having both good ability and attitude.

The first round of the purge seemed quite effective at the time. Later, although the Kingdom of Lucia also plotted against Brandenburg, the excellent performance of a certain “National Defender” prevented any irreversible losses.

Instead, the Kingdom of Lucia was caught with a big handle and had to cut off a large piece of flesh just to escape safely. This was also a powerful counterattack for the Duchy of Nohan, which had been in a passive position for such a long time.

In this process, since the people involved were all from the knight class within the noble system, the possibility of leaks was completely cut off. However, the high-level leaders of the Duchy of Nohan, who didn’t notice this point, although they caught the Kingdom of Lucia off guard using past traditions, the moles hidden inside the Duchy were not exposed because of this.

The following events were unexpected. The attacks on George and Poitou City itself dropped a heavy bombshell on the entire political stage of Nohan. This was completely different in nature from the goblin attack on Greywood Town before.

Attacks on large towns often meant war without declaration. Although it wasn’t the army of the Kingdom of Lucia that did it, their shadow behind the scenes was clearly visible.

Most importantly, the Kingdom of Lucia’s behavior clearly went beyond the rules of the game. Sending personnel to assassinate a foreign noble heir before declaring war was an absolutely unforgivable atrocity. Not only was the act almost like assassination, which people hated, but the act of cutting off someone’s lineage directly was also met with unified hostility from the knights.

Since the other side had torn off the mask, the leaders of the Duchy of Nohan were no longer polite either. The idea that two armies in war do not kill envoys was relative anyway. Moreover, the personnel of the Duchy of Nohan in the Kingdom of Lucia, upon learning the truth of the barbarian invasion from the south, were all withdrawn back to the country along with the Duke’s embassy team.

Alexandrina Bagshaw Boltwood, who had once manipulated two knights and nearly played them like puppets, and her ambassador father were directly restricted from traveling. Of course, the investigation could not start directly from these few people. To maintain a just victim image internationally, the Duchy of Nohan placed its first breakthrough point on the militia at various checkpoints and their related people.

A force of almost a modern battalion could not sneak into Bolerum Territory without leaving any traces. Even if they sneaked in in batches disguised, those carrying weapons would inevitably be the focus of the militia’s attention.

Before crossing over, there was a saying: “Under the three woods, what cannot be obtained?” But in this world where power was not a simple sum of numbers, there was a more effective solution.

No matter how hidden the hiding was, as long as traces were left, the ‘Detect Magic’ spell could find your hiding nest from the mirror; no matter how brilliant the plan, it would be fully exposed under the perception of ‘Mind Reading’; no matter how tough the iron man, he would be forced to act against his will under the effect of ‘Suggestion’; no matter how loyal the faith, it would become a laughing stock under the power of ‘Dominate Human’ and ‘Guide’.

After lifting restrictions and letting everyone use their methods freely, those “skunks” without supernatural protection were just a meal for the starving guys in the intelligence department, right?

If the other side had equipped these guys with some Magic Items or given them some specialized counter-training, the Duchy of Nohan’s actions would not have been as smooth as they were now.

However, the former required a large amount of financial investment, while the latter required some specialized Secret Arts or even spiritual cultivation methods. Both also required a long time to spend.

Magic Items were not like cabbage on the street that you could buy as many as you wanted. Special needs often had to be solved through customization, which cost a lot of time and connections. The same went for Secret Arts; not everyone was a genius, and not all divine manuals could be understood just by looking at them once.

Plus, the Kingdom of Lucia itself was greedy, being fierce to others and even fiercer to its own people. Especially for these double traitors, it was impossible for them to spend a lot of money to guarantee their safety.

After this kind of net-like investigation, the network that the Kingdom of Lucia had deployed in Nohan for many years was almost completely wiped out. Although it couldn’t be said that no one escaped, all the main figures were captured, and only some small fry managed to escape when they saw the situation was bad. Overall, the entire operation could be said to be quite successful.

Later, following the clues, they even took down several intelligence channels hidden within the Merchant Guild. With solid evidence in hand, it became natural to take action against the pair of ambassadors, father and daughter. The information obtained from them was beyond imagination.

With such a perfect ending, the entire operation, which took more than two months and cost over 5,000 Gold Coins just on Magic Items, officially ended. Although the cost was huge, the results were extraordinarily rich.

At the same time, the bloody storm that was raised was constantly warning people of the fate of traitors—the 600+ bodies that were hanged, with the main villains hanging in iron frames by the city wall. At the same time, the heads of those traitors were also hung on the crenelations behind the city gate, so that those plotting mischief could see the fate of treason.

After being exposed to wind and sun for this period of time, the bodies in the iron frames were left as piles of white bones. Occasionally, bird nests could even be found inside a few of their skulls!

Of course, while the subordinates were busy here and there, the leaders certainly couldn’t just sit idle. These big figures had recently made the conference room in the Congress Hall their home.

When seeing the latest document describing that new spies sent by the Kingdom of Lucia were discovered among the caravans traveling between the two countries, Duke Garfield, who had finally thought he could have a moment of peace, almost cursed out. But when he saw Viscount Bolerum’s eyes full of blood vessels, he couldn’t bear to add more burden to him: “Elliot! After this period is over, I will give you a longer vacation.”

Viscount Bolerum, who had just raised his head, was startled by these words and then smiled bitterly: “It would be nice to actually have a vacation! But I don’t know when that will be, two or three years later?”

“I think it shouldn’t take that long! After all, this war won’t start so quickly. If nothing unexpected happens, you can return to your Territory this summer to spend time with your children. To be honest, wasn’t your son too hard hit this time? After all, the savings he had worked so hard to save were used to rebuild the streets.” Duke Garfield switched to a relatively relaxed topic in front of his trusted vassal. After all, it was this man’s hometown that was attacked.

George’s actions, through the deliberate guidance of his arranged subordinates, had turned into an image of being too soft-hearted and having to grit his teeth to pay for the reconstruction funds. This kind of semi-self-slandering behavior was naturally to prevent other lords in the Duchy from feeling resentment. Originally, this kind of behavior of attracting refugees might cause dissatisfaction in others’ hearts. If they then carried out some propaganda to show themselves as wise and mighty, would that not be cutting themselves off from the people?

“Yes! I just don’t know if that little guy will be crying behind his back! But as a father, I couldn’t be by his side during his most difficult time! By the time I go back, he will probably have already overcome that difficulty on his own.” Viscount Bolerum, although following George’s wishes to help cover up for his son, no, to cooperate with the propaganda.

“In view of how much your little guy cares, I will waive the shield tax for your House Bolerum this year! Although it’s actually not much, consider it compensation for Greywood Town.” It seemed Duke Garfield also knew that his act of granting the House Bolerum the territory of Greywood Town was not very fair. However, other places either did not border Bolerum Territory or had other special meanings—such as military fortresses.

“Why are you the Duke, after all!” Viscount Bolerum could only hold his head and pretend to wail.

“Alright! Let’s stop joking. Now let’s talk about business! The enemy seems to have established a new stronghold in the forest south of Karada. But I don’t want to expose the internal line we worked so hard to build.” Duke Garfield passed the planning task back to Viscount Bolerum.

After thinking for a while, Viscount Bolerum opened his pair of red eyes and smiled strangely: “Since we can’t use the regular army, I think using adventurers to cause some trouble for them would be good.”

In the small tavern “Foamy Red Lips” in the commoner district, several adventurers were drinking cheap liquor and discussing their previous adventure in the goblin cave on the mountain.

Joyce Poetic Wind couldn’t help but complain: “The loot last time was really bad.”

Rania Anslant also said with some reluctance: “I saw several small teams similar to ours getting rich harvests.”

Arsenic Jing Rata put down his wine glass and said: “Don’t worry, guys. I feel a new adventure is coming soon.”

The tavern was very lively. Many commoners drank and celebrated here, although most of them ordered cheap liquor and black bread. It seemed that a few sausages in front of the table and a piece of cheese with green stripes also attracted their envious glances.

Arsenic Jing Rata picked up the topic and continued: “Danger and reward are proportional. And there was not much danger in those goblin caves.”

Rania Anslant agreed: “Yes, after all, it was just a cave. Except for the name, there weren’t even any goblins there.”

Arsenic Jing Rata put down the wine glass in his hand: “Let’s find a job. If we don’t exercise soon, we won’t have money to drink.”

Joyce Poetic Wind immediately agreed to the proposal: “Good.”

Rania Anslant complained: “Yes, I really hope for an adventure that can be recorded in poetry and sung on the streets…”

These few people gestured with their newly repaired equipment, which seemed to be greedily waiting for blood and honor.

Elein Sandra sighed: “Sung on the streets. You’re overthinking it. Adventures recorded in poetry have to be paid for with lives. I think we don’t have the luck to come back alive.”

“So if everyone is dead, how does the poetry get passed down?” Joyce Poetic Wind asked.

“That’s because their teams brought their own poets,” Elein Sandra said absentmindedly.

Joyce Poetic Wind patted the shoulder of the poet in the team.

Elein Sandra plucked the strings of the seven-stringed zither in her hand and hummed weakly, “There were some guys, they broke into the cave, the goblins inside, were poor and had no good stuff.”

The shop manager next to them asked curiously: “So that’s why you brought him along?”

Then, a large amount of ale flew into the air.

Joyce Poetic Wind slapped the table a few times: “Okay, let’s do some real work. We have to take on more business, otherwise we might have to sleep on the streets next week.”

Elein Sandra really brought up the wrong topic: “Speaking of it, in our family’s adventure history, there really aren’t many who died in adventures, but many more who ran until they were poor and couldn’t make a living…”

Joyce Poetic Wind patted his belt: “I only have about twenty coins left in my hand.”

Rania Anslant scratched his head: “Hmm, let’s go make money, guys.”

Arsenic Jing Rata smiled bitterly: “Make money…”

Elein Sandra opened her money bag and flipped through it: “Make money…”

Arsenic Jing Rata: “Adventurer’s Guild. We are coming.”

Rania Anslant finished the ale, shook the wine glass up and down a few times, not missing the last drop.

Joyce Poetic Wind hung a pair of curved blades on his waist, pushed open the tavern door, and said in a weird voice: “Going to throw ourselves into the trap of the black-hearted broker again.”