CHAPTER 550: REBELLION 18

TL: Rui88

At this moment, most of the rebels were busy dodging bullets, and few noticed that their temporary commander, Fergus, was fleeing. Those who did notice, without exception, chose to flee with Fergus.

They crossed through the team amidst a chorus of screams and panicked shouts.

“Giddy-up!” Fergus continuously shook the reins, his legs gripping the saddle tightly as if they had grown together with it. At the same time, his upper body was bent low to reduce the probability of being hit.

But after running about five hundred meters ahead, he pulled hard on the reins. The fast-galloping mount immediately neighed and reared its front hooves, coming to a difficult stop.

In the direction he was heading, a row of black shadows stood silently. It gave Fergus the feeling that they were specifically waiting for him.

From their posture, everyone was holding a musket pointed at him. Fergus had no doubt that if he continued to advance, he would be riddled with holes.

With a clang, Fergus drew his knight’s longsword, looking ahead warily.

A sound of horse hooves treading on mud and water rang out, and several knights emerged from the forest beside them.

“I never would have thought!”

The leader spoke, and Fergus felt a sense of familiarity.

As the newcomers continued to approach, with the help of the reappearing moonlight…the rain had gradually stopped, and the dark clouds were beginning to dissipate…Fergus recognized the face of the person who had arrived.

“Carter Holly?” Fergus frowned.

“It is I. Lord… Fergus, I never would have thought that you would betray Lord Paul Grayman, and that you would be a key figure among the rebels.”

The commander of the 8th Infantry Battalion, Holly, had a pained expression. The family of the knight before him had served the Grayman family for generations. How could he have suddenly fallen so low? When he learned from the letter brought by that bird that the rebellion was likely planned by Fergus, his heart was filled with shock. Now, seeing this traitor with his own eyes, it was confirmed. The lieutenant colonel’s feelings at this moment were very complicated.

“Humph! Paul Grayman’s perverse actions have incurred the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people. He has completely degenerated into a tyrant, an executioner. How can our actions be called betrayal? We are seeking justice for the people he oppresses, to put Alda back on its correct course.”

“Outrageous! I have never heard such vicious slander. Alda is flourishing now. For you to say such things is to be blind and without conscience.”

Lieutenant Colonel Holly and Major Cobb beside him were very indignant at Fergus’s words. The last trace of pity for Fergus disappeared without a trace.

Lieutenant Colonel Holly said sternly, “Fergus, if you lay down your weapons now and honestly confess all your accomplices and the entire course of the rebellion, perhaps Lord Grayman will spare your life on account of your family’s generations of loyalty.”

“Holly!” Fergus suddenly flew into a rage. “You were nothing but a squire by Bryce’s side, and now you dare to speak to me like this.”

“Squire?” Lieutenant Colonel Holly was taken aback. He hadn’t heard that word in a long time.

After reacting, Holly replied, “Yes, but that was in the past. I am now the commander of the 8th Infantry Battalion of the Alda Army.”

“To hell with your battalion commander!” Fergus’s face became twisted, and the long-suppressed unwillingness and resentment in his heart suddenly erupted.

After the pirate rebellion was suppressed, Fergus felt that there were too many restrictions in the army established by the lord, so he did not stay in Lakeheart Town to serve. Instead, he returned to his own village to manage his estate. But at that time, he still maintained his loyalty to the Grayman family. If the lord needed him, he would don his armor and mount his horse at any time, leading his squires and servants, and charge into battle for the lord without hesitation, even if it meant dying on the battlefield.

Among the knights of the Grayman family, Fergus was not the only one who made the same choice.

However, in the subsequent wars that Alda participated in, Paul never once summoned these knights who chose to return home. He won all the wars by relying on the new army he had established. This made the knights who were idle at home very puzzled.

Especially the War of the Usurper. This war made the previously unknown Alda shine brightly, completely reversing the Grayman family’s weak position in the Northwest Bay. For those who participated in such an important war, it meant great status, honor, and wealth. During those days, Fergus was even in no mood to manage the affairs of his own estate. He sent people every day to inquire about the development of the war situation. He looked forward with eager anticipation, longing for a summons from his lord. On more than one night, he dreamed of a messenger from Lakeheart Town knocking on his door, reading out the lord’s order for him to go to the battlefield to serve.

But, until the end of the War of the Usurper, Fergus never received a messenger from Lakeheart Town.

After the war, according to Count Grayman’s supreme directive, the outstanding figures in the war were vigorously publicized and even became protagonists in dramas. Several propaganda teams went to various cities and villages, recreating their heroic deeds for the residents over and over again. These outstanding figures included calm and composed officers and brave and fearless soldiers. The names and deeds of those who sacrificed their lives were engraved in the Hall of Heroes in Lakeheart Town, to be remembered by people forever.

Count Grayman held a grand victory celebration in Lakeheart Town, publicly awarding medals and rewards to the soldiers who had made meritorious contributions. At that time, Fergus was also invited to attend, but only as a guest in the audience. What the Count didn’t know was that amidst the sea of applause and cheers, a seed of resentment began to take root and sprout.

Yes, Fergus still maintained a familiar relationship with his lord. Every letter of greeting he wrote to Paul would receive an enthusiastic reply. He would even receive a greeting letter from the lord first during festivals. But so what? Fergus was a knight, a warrior. His mission was to ride on the battlefield until he heroically sacrificed his life for his lord, not to grow old in his own estate like an ordinary country gentleman.

What? Did the current Count Grayman now completely regard him as an ordinary commoner friend?

Yes, strictly speaking, he was still a commoner. After the royal family restored the Grayman family’s honor, his familiar friends in Lakeheart Town…Bryce, Old Ford, Claude… they were all granted noble titles.

Their bloodlines had since become noble. Wherever they went, they would be respectfully called “My Lord.”

The Count also officially granted him the title of knight, but knight was only an honorary title and, strictly speaking, not a true noble.

This was also a point of great disappointment for Fergus.