Chapter 1039
Scaring Oneself
“…Still alive.”
Old Argon repeated Sherlock’s conclusion: “So that’s how it is…”
He slowly exhaled, his fists clenching and then gradually loosening. It was as if he had finally put down a burden of worry and doubt, or perhaps he had anticipated this all along… or felt some regret.
—Clearly, this was not the answer the Old Duke had expected, nor the one he had feared.
“If I’m not mistaken,” Sherlock looked at Argon, his words sharp and unforgiving, “the answer you wished to obtain… should be to find the organization to which the behind-the-scenes mastermind belongs, right?
“Whether it’s the conspiracy of the Eagle Eye organization, or someone else among the Grand Dukes manipulating things behind the scenes… I think directly naming an individual might be more aligned with your needs.”
Upon hearing this, Eivass paused for a moment and looked up at the Old Duke.
He was the first to understand the hidden meaning in Sherlock’s words.
The Old Duke’s “invitation” for Sherlock to come here was likely… not simply about getting an answer.
—Or rather, his need was not just “to know the truth,” and the motive driving him to take such a dangerous action was by no means mere curiosity.
“…What do you mean, Father?”
Annie, with her sharp senses, perceived the sudden shift in atmosphere and looked up, confused.
Arsen opened his mouth, but then wisely closed it again.
As a son-in-law, he decided to give his father-in-law some face. After all, there were figures present who even his “expensive father” couldn’t afford to offend; this was not his place to speak.
Eivass, however, spoke softly, “It’s very simple. If there was a mastermind, and this mastermind gained significant benefits from it… then after Sherlock uncovered the truth and exposed this person… wouldn’t we have confirmed that the ‘Third Rebellion’ itself was a conspiracy?
“People were exploited by the mastermind, which led to the end of the Iris Dynasty. And after the monarch left Iris, people’s lives did not significantly improve.
“Although the nobles’ fiefs were reclaimed by the country, they were bought back by those nobles and wealthy merchants; although they no longer had private armies, they had ‘long-term mercenaries’ from security companies; although the inherited noble titles ceased to exist, the positions of councilors continued to be passed down.
“The Iris people no longer had nobles, but the powers of the existing mayors and town heads were expanded; even when people met the three Grand Dukes, they still had to respectfully bow to them.”
“—Perhaps the only difference is that the rich used to have to humble themselves before the nobles, but now they are doing much better than the old nobility.”
Eivass sighed and began to explain the essence of the matter to Annie from the beginning.
What Iris experienced during the “Third Rebellion period” was not fundamentally different from what the Lloyd Society did in Avalon last year.
This was, in fact, a path that had to be taken. In the past, high-end technology was basically monopolized by alchemists and mages. Ordinary people’s roles were primarily agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, forestry, and hunting, all of which required the lord’s permission.
But with the development of industrialization, the value produced by factories gradually began to surpass the former. Thus, the status of workers gradually surpassed that of farmers, herders, fishermen, and hunters… and the factory owners who controlled the machines gradually began to conflict with the nobles who controlled the land—after all, there were only so many people; if one side gained more, the other would have less. But up to this point, the nobles generally had a far greater advantage than the factory owners.
Until after a certain critical point… suddenly, more things could be bought with money, and the nature of things suddenly changed.
Although nobles would suppress factory owners, they generally dared not eliminate them directly because they also wanted to use cheaper and more reliable industrial products, rather than importing expensive and less advanced foreign alchemical products at the price of gold for some second-hand junk; conversely, factory owners could unscrupulously, even impatiently, control or eliminate all nobles.
Looking back, how was Avalon’s knightly class controlled by the Lloyd Society, a merchant organization with no de facto power or strength? They could have, by simply uniting and using violence to control these merchants, obtained the current benefits without any risk.
The reason was simple: these knights were wary of each other and were in opposition, and the profits brought by the merchants were not enough to feed everyone.
Just as the Knights of the Round Table would argue in the Round Table Hall, discussing each proposal and deciding whether it could pass based on their own stance. And these knights could not reach the same conclusion on all matters, thus there would always be opposition and hostility between them. Because of these oppositions, the knights actually didn’t know how many people had already been manipulated, and they didn’t dare to reveal their intention “not to cooperate.”
They could indeed easily control these merchants with violence—only five arbiters could have wiped out the Lloyd Society without taking any damage.
But what about after that? How would they distribute it?
If the merchants’ tribute was divided equally, then everyone would not get enough; but if it was only given to a small group, who could be sure that they would not be excluded from the group? If the five of them took it all, would the other knights not unite to get rid of them?
They had all known poverty before, and no one wanted to return to the hardship of the past. If the sponsorship were cut off now, no one would be well off. Clearly, there was another way for everyone to eat their fill—that was to reduce the number of “high-level” individuals sharing the profits sufficiently.
Therefore, the fact that powerful knights were manipulated by weaker merchants was not essentially about the merchants, but about the knights themselves. What these corrupted knights feared was not the merchants, but other knights—their equally corrupted colleagues.
The nobles of Iris faced the same problem.
The First and Second Rebellions were complete failures. Because in this world where extraordinary power was monopolized through knowledge, it was difficult for extraordinary individuals to emerge from the purely impoverished common people.
They could not obtain grimoires to open their inheritances on their own, nor could they learn complete theoretical systems from specialized teaching institutions. Even if they were lucky enough to become extraordinary individuals, they didn’t have the money to perform the ascension ritual—they might not even know what was required for it.
In this situation, rebellions from the common people could not succeed. No matter how grand their momentum, extraordinary individuals could easily suppress them.
“—But the situation of the Third Rebellion was different, because their monarch had died.”
“…I understand!”
As Eivass said this, Annie’s eyes widened, and she blurted out, “Because they were scared!”
“Precisely.”
Sherlock nodded, calmly and leisurely picking up his black tea, “It’s because the nobles didn’t know who the mastermind behind this was… that they could bypass the Eagle Eye organization and the three Grand Dukes’ checkpoints, bypass the Royal Guard to reach the Royal Palace, break through the Imperial Guard, capture all the Royal Family members, and behead a considerable number of Fourth Tier extraordinary individuals among them.”
As he spoke, he pinched his throat, making a very sickening sound, “‘Who could have done this to this extent?’ ‘Even His Majesty the King was killed, how can we resist?’ ‘This is not a rebellion instigated by commoners at all, but a coup d’état launched by some powerful figure for dictatorship!’ ‘If we stand in the way, we will likely be eliminated as well!'”
“—And so, they were terrified.”
At this point, Sherlock couldn’t help but slightly curve the corners of his mouth, revealing a mocking smile.
Because this matter was too interesting—at least for him, an Avalon native, it was too amusing. This was also why he became more and more engrossed as he investigated.
Although he was brought here half-coerced, half-tricked, he enjoyed the investigation immensely. Not only because of his curiosity, but also because the case was truly flavorful and exceptionally appetizing.
If it weren’t for the fact that this matter was inconvenient to discuss with outsiders, he would definitely have found reporters to publicize it.
“…You mean,” Annie said incredulously, “that actually, all these nobles… scared themselves to death?”
“That’s right.”
Sherlock gave his investigative conclusion: “From the very beginning, there was no ‘mastermind.’ The nobles surrendered quickly and accepted the confiscation of their property. And the quick surrender of other nobles made those who had not yet surrendered even more afraid.
“It’s like soldiers on a battlefield once they panic and retreat; far more knights are trampled to death by their comrades or lost in the chaos than are actually killed. And apart from the very few who engaged in combat, the others actually had no idea what was happening. They were simply swept along, and they couldn’t even manage to get to the front.
“—This was a dramatically unfolding rout.”
“…But,” Annie still found it difficult to understand, “wasn’t there even one person who stepped forward? The Third Rebellion period didn’t just take away the nobles’ wealth, right? So many people were hanged, kidnapped, or sold into slavery in Anxi… it’s impossible they would rather accept such a fate than dare to act, right?”
Even a herd of pigs would have one particularly brave pig.
Among so many people, was there not even one who dared to resist?
“…Of course not.”
Sherlock’s gaze was deep, the mocking smile on his face slightly receding as he looked at Old Argon.
His words were cautious and peaceful, filled with deep meaning, “I think this is why the Grand Duke asked me to investigate this matter.”
“—It was us.”
Argon spoke, “Those who executed the resisters came from our three families.
“The prototype of the Eagle Eye organization, the ‘Brotherhood of Stone Masons,’ had close ties with the common people and had infiltrated the Third Rebellion ranks… therefore, it cannot be said that there were no extraordinary individuals among them.
“Duke Harcourt, the Minister of Military and Politics, ordered the army not to mobilize at that time. He said it was an order from His Majesty—the Iris army could not point its weapons at the Iris people. Therefore, even though they killed His Majesty, they did not allow the army to suppress the rebellion.
“And I was responsible for ensuring that those nobles whom His Majesty disliked suffered their misfortunes. Annie, what you mentioned earlier… those nobles who were hanged, kidnapped, or sold off… if you investigate carefully, you will find that they were all nobles who had previously committed grave mistakes but were shielded by their power, or individuals who acted recklessly, ignoring the monarch’s orders.”
The old man’s tone was calm, slow, and leisurely, yet filled with fierce and decisive intent to kill, “This was not originally at His Majesty’s behest… but when I realized that the entire Royal Family had been killed without any movement… it was highly likely that there was a traitor among us.
“Since that is the case, what I had to do was to send all those who deserved to die to their deaths—at least on the long table of the new government, there would be no plates and cutlery for them.
“—I don’t know who the traitor is, but at least I can prevent the most deserving and unworthy from enjoying any power. This way, even if they participated in the rebellion, they would not gain any benefits from it.
“And I… I’m not very good at political struggles. I also don’t know if they secretly formed any alliances, and no one invited us to join. However, it was quite fitting that we were quite well-liked, so many people were willing to lend a hand… or perhaps it was because everyone had grown tired of those people.”
“Are you saying…”
Annie’s eyes widened.
“That’s right, Annie,” the old man said calmly, stroking a large ring on his hand, “the people who did those things you mentioned… were from our family.
“Royal power is not just a sword; it is also an umbrella. And what it shields is not just its own people… but more so these nobles at the center of the umbrella. When this umbrella falls, they are the ones who bear the brunt of it.”
“I noticed something very subtle.”
When Eivass heard this, he smiled relaxedly.
He pointed out the detail, “The nobles who disobeyed the King’s orders were often the most unpopular. They were the ones who deliberately caused poverty and famine to cause trouble for the Swan King.”
Although this seemed like a coincidence, it was subtly reasonable.
—A person who dared to defy the King’s orders, how audacious must they be! A person who dared to bully the King, would they not bully those below them?
“Yes,” the Old Duke nodded, “this is retribution.”
“Then…”
Arsen, unable to suppress his curiosity, finally asked, “What did Duke Beaufort do?”
Although the three Grand Dukes were like kingdoms within the kingdom, their specific responsibilities and classifications were somewhat different.
Duke Harcourt was also known as the “Wolf Duke”; he was a pure soldier. Duke Vendome was known as the “Iceheart Duke”; the Vendome Family had a great influence on the arts and literature, which meant he indirectly controlled almost all high-end extraordinary individuals on The Path of Beauty, holding stakes in all national theaters and opera houses.
The Iris theater troupes that performed in Avalon received investment from the Vendome Family.
And Duke Beaufort, he controlled the financial power.
“The formation of the ‘Citizens’ Council’ was proposed by Duke Beaufort.”
The Old Duke said slowly, “He was the one who organized Iris’s new government… saying, ‘even the worst order is better than chaos,’ and urgently demanding an end to this rebellion. He is the one I suspect the most.”
“Isn’t it good that now it can be proven that everyone is innocent?”
Annie was very confused.
“It’s very simple…”
Eivass spoke, voicing the Old Duke’s inner thoughts, “Because what Grandfather actually wanted was a war. A ‘cleansing war that purifies everything’ to resolve all of Iris’s accumulated problems. That’s why he is desperately searching for a ‘culprit’.”
“—If I’m not mistaken, he wants to overthrow the Citizens’ Council.”
“To launch the fifteenth rebellion of Iris.”
(End of Chapter)
