CHAPTER 555: EXPOSED

TL: Rui88

The people in the main hall of the Lord’s Manor were still there, but the main seat where Paul had once sat was now occupied by the acting lord, Julio. He held a quill pen, writing swiftly on a piece of paper, occasionally stopping to deliberate with the others on the specific content of the letter. He was not in a hurry to voice his own opinion; when others presented their views to him, he would always respond with “mm-hmm, mm-hmm,” appearing very modest.

The Administration Council’s Comptroller, Old Ford, was holding a letter just written by the acting lord, scrutinizing it word by word to see if it was appropriate.

At that moment, a person quietly walked into the hall. It was Steward Philip, who had left dejectedly earlier.

The old steward approached the head of the Administration Council. The comptroller sensed someone approaching, turned his body, and cast his gaze upon Philip.

Comptroller Ford had been aware when the old steward left earlier. He had very much wanted to leave his seat to comfort this old friend of several decades, but he had more important matters at hand, so he had to put all his emotions aside.

Now seeing him return, he asked softly, “Oh, Philip, is there something you need?”

“Comptroller.” Philip spoke in a low but clear voice, as if afraid of disturbing others. “I was just in young master Paul’s study organizing his belongings. There is a safe in there for which only he and you know the combination, so I must ask you to come over. I think we should clear out the room for the new lord as soon as possible.”

“Oh, oh, that combination safe.” Old Ford blinked. “Actually, there’s nothing much inside, just some financial reports. I’ll just go up and get them for Lord Julio to look over.”

“My colleagues, Lord Julio, I shall take my leave for a moment.” After speaking, he stood up.

“Please, go ahead.” Julio was sitting right next to Old Ford and had heard their conversation word for word. He suspected nothing.

Among those present, only the lord’s secretary, Bernard, was slightly taken aback, but his expression quickly returned to calm, unnoticed by the others.

Old Ford followed Philip up to the second floor, one behind the other. Neither spoke on the way, and they walked straight into Paul’s office.

The moment Comptroller Ford’s heel had just crossed the threshold, Philip closed the door.

“What has happened?” Comptroller Ford asked Philip impatiently.

He had no idea of the combination to the safe in the lord’s office, and Steward Philip knew he didn’t know the combination. When he had just heard Philip’s words, he had been very puzzled. Fortunately, the comptroller’s mind worked faster than his facial muscles, and he hadn’t shown any noticeable expression.

“Burgan is the traitor lurking in Lakeheart Town!”

Steward Philip’s opening words were a piece of news that utterly shocked Comptroller Ford.

“Wh-why do you say that?”

Comptroller Ford’s beard trembled, though he too had had his suspicions.

Steward Philip gave him a small piece of paper. “Lady Ladi’s pet parrot brought back a personal letter from Lord Grayman. It says that the Warren family, which Burgan comes from, participated in the attack on him.”

Upon hearing news of Paul, Comptroller Ford’s eyes widened, and he grabbed Philip by the collar. “Then what about Lord Grayman?”

“Lord Grayman is still holding on under the protection of his guards, but this parrot has already taken his request for aid to the nearest 8th Infantry Battalion.” Steward Philip said this with a worried heart, but his face was no longer ashen as before.

“So Lord Grayman might still be alive?” Old Ford’s heart, which had been silent with despair, began to beat again.

“Yes, it’s entirely possible!” Steward Philip’s tone became firm.

“Wait, you said a parrot?”

“It’s right there!” Steward Philip pointed to the south side of the room.

Comptroller Ford turned to look. Indeed, it was Director Sertia’s parrot. He had seen Ladi playing with this bird many times during her leisure.

Comptroller Ford immediately finished reading the note Philip handed him.

“Excellent! Excellent!”

The Administration Council comptroller’s wrinkled face twisted with anger. A complete conspiracy gradually pieced itself together in his mind.

First, they lured the lord away from his centre of power, separating him from his subjects, and took the opportunity to assassinate him in the wilderness. Then, using the convenience of his official position, he took control of the militia who had come for training, spread the news that the lord had died in a rebellion, and fabricated the illusion of an external invasion (which might even be real). He also disguised himself as a loyalist, forcing the already overwhelmed department heads to acknowledge the new lord he had put forward. And at this very moment, the Lakeheart Town garrison was away. It was a god-given opportunity.

Slap, Comptroller Ford slammed the note onto the table.

“We must act immediately. We absolutely cannot let these traitors succeed. Philip, how many guards are left in the Lord’s Manor?”

“There are still more than thirty in the castle.”

Philip thought for a moment, stroking his beard, and said, “Thirty is enough. Find a few skilled men, and come back to the hall with me later. First, we’ll get this fellow Burgan under control. Judging from Burgan’s behaviour since last night, he’s the ringleader of the rebel group lurking in Lakeheart Town.”

Philip asked, “What if his accomplices outside try to rescue him? Or another situation arises… his accomplices have become so frenzied that they no longer care about his life or death. They have nearly two thousand militiamen in their hands now.”

“This…” At his question, Old Ford also calmed down.

…

In the main hall.

“What did you say?” Burgan almost shouted. Although he managed to restrain himself in the end, his loss of composure was still noticed by others.

Just now, one of his confidants had run into the Lord’s Manor and whispered a few words to him.

But those few words were undoubtedly a thunderbolt from a clear sky for Burgan.

An army had appeared outside Lakeheart Town, and its size was no less than that of a battalion.

What was even more terrifying was that this army had muskets and cannons…naturally, it was undoubtedly the regular army of Alda, as they flew the banners of the Alda army and Schroeder.

But… but… the four infantry battalions in Lakeheart should be far away by now. Even if they received the news and immediately turned back to rush towards Lakeheart Town, it was absolutely impossible for them to be this fast.

Where did Schroeder find this army? Burgan could not figure it out no matter how hard he thought.

Schroeder! Burgan had not expected that the chief of staff who had fled overnight would ultimately bring him such great trouble.

I must immediately begin organizing a defense, Burgan judged.

And he had to go himself. Otherwise, given the nature of those militiamen, they would likely run over to Schroeder’s side the moment they saw him…many of them had met the chief of staff before.