Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 537: Rebellion 5

TL: Rui88

On this quiet, dead of night, the sound of pounding on the door was so out of place.

Lieutenant Colonel Carter Holly, the commander of the 8th Infantry Battalion, sleepily opened his door.

He complained unhappily, “By the Lord of Light, what’s happened?”

Standing at the door was his guard. The guard stood at attention, saluted, and then handed over a note.

“Reporting, sir. The sentry on duty received a note. It seems to be a letter from Lord Grayman.”

“Lord Grayman?”

Hearing that the letter was from the lord, Carter Holly was jolted awake, much of his sleepiness dispelled.

He took the note from the guard and immediately unfolded it to read the message.

Upon reading it, the lieutenant colonel’s face turned pale. He grabbed the guard’s hand and asked impatiently:

“Who delivered this note?”

“Uh…” The guard hesitated.

“Speak!” The lieutenant colonel urged his guard in a very stern tone.

“A… a large parrot…”

An expression of disbelief appeared on the guard’s face.

“A large parrot? What are you talking about? This is no time for jokes,” the lieutenant colonel seriously reprimanded the guard before him.

“Lieutenant Colonel, I am not joking. It was delivered by a parrot.”

The guard replied with a straight face, “It was Ochoa, the sentry at post number 2. According to his recollection, the parrot descended from the sky at that time, landed on the railing of the watchtower, and then raised its right claw. Ochoa quickly discovered this note tied to its right claw.”

Alright, Lieutenant Colonel Holly decided to take the guard’s words as true for now.

“You immediately send someone to wake up all the officers and soldiers, but there is no need to assemble for now. Have them wait in the barracks to be summoned.”

“Yes, sir!”

…

Twenty minutes later, in the office of the 8th Infantry Battalion headquarters, the commander, Lieutenant Colonel Carter Holly, and the battalion instructor, Major Pal Cobb, were looking at Paul’s order together.

Lieutenant Colonel Holly held the note up to the candlelight and examined it repeatedly. “There’s no mistake. This is indeed Lord Grayman’s handwriting. Such ugly… such unique handwriting, I have a very deep impression of it.”

“I think so too,” Instructor Pal Cobb agreed completely. Both of them recognized the lord’s handwriting.

“But…”

He glanced at the green-feathered parrot standing on the table before him.

“The identity and appearance of this ‘messenger’ are too incredible.”

Lieutenant Colonel Holly said, “I don’t think it’s a big deal. Since pigeons can deliver letters, why can’t parrots?”

“But that’s using the pigeon’s ability to find its nest. This parrot’s nest is obviously not in our camp. I’ve never even seen it before. How did it find its way here?”

Lieutenant Colonel Holly waved his hand and said, “In any case, since this order was written by Lord Grayman himself, something must have happened in Babor Village. That’s it!”

Lieutenant Colonel Holly suddenly slapped his palm, as if he had a sudden realization. “Isn’t the closest garrison to Babor Village our 8th Infantry Battalion? It’s perfectly logical for the lord to think of asking for help from the nearest troops in a critical situation.”

“You’re right,” Major Cobb agreed with Lieutenant Colonel Holly’s deduction.

“In that case, no matter what has happened, we should immediately go to Babor Village to see.”

“But…” Major Cobb said with some difficulty, “Babor Village is nearly a day’s journey from here.”

Lieutenant Colonel Holly stood up and paced around a few times. Suddenly, he raised his head and looked at Major Cobb, saying, “I will contact the mayor of this city and ask him to requisition a batch of horses for us. Later, our entire battalion will ride horses to Babor Village.”

“Good, let’s do it!”

Major Cobb nodded in approval.

“Right!” Major Cobb suddenly thought of something. “We must use the signal station to immediately report this matter to Lakeheart Town.”

…

In Lakeheart Town, the militiamen were horrified to hear the news of the lord’s assassination.

Lord Paul Grayman had been assassinated? That powerful lord, the one who had annihilated the pirates, the one who had defeated the Kent family, such a powerful figure, had been assassinated just like that?

On the podium, Burgan looked at the stunned militiamen and continued to shout, “Now, in order to stabilize the situation and prevent turmoil, we need to immediately impose martial law on Lakeheart Town. Unfortunately, the original garrison of Lakeheart Town has gone out for field exercises, and now you militiamen are the only force available. I declare…”

Burgan shouted, “The original training plan is canceled. The current mission of the militia is changed to imposing martial law on Lakeheart Town.”

At this time, there were about two thousand militiamen assembled before him, a considerable military force. Moreover, they had mastered military skills such as formation, marching, sword and blade operation, and firearm operation.

“Now, follow your respective instructors to the armory to receive your weapons, one musket per person.”

…

The armory administrator looked at the officer demanding to enter and get guns with a troubled expression. Behind the officer were the dumbfounded militiamen.

“But, we haven’t received any notification…”

“What time is it now? You’re still waiting for a notification?” the officer shouted at him.

“But…”

“Men, immediately take down this person who is obstructing military operations!”

Two burly guards emerged from behind the officer and, without a word, pressed the armory administrator to the ground.

“You can’t do this! Mmph, mmph…”

His mouth was gagged.

“Everyone! Follow me in to receive your weapons!”

The officer waved his hand to the militiamen behind him.

…

When Chief of Staff Schroeder, who had remained in Lakeheart Town, learned of the militiamen’s unusual movements, he immediately felt that something was wrong. He was currently in his residence.

He, the chief of staff…the number one military officer besides Paul…had not participated in the field exercises and had stayed in Lakeheart Town.

Logically, no matter how big the matter was, Burgan should have come to ask for his instructions first.

Why was there a nighttime assembly outside of the training plan? Why were they forcing their way into the armory to get weapons in disregard of the regulations?

This was definitely a highly problematic operation, perhaps… a rebellion!

“I must immediately go to the militiamen and expose this as a conspiracy!”

Schroeder was very anxious and said this to his adjutant.

“Lord Schroeder, no! The entire military camp may have already fallen under the control of the rebellion’s organizers…if this is indeed a rebellion! Wouldn’t you be walking right into a trap if you go?”

“You’re right!” The guard’s words calmed Schroeder down.

“We must first find a reliable military force…a force other than the Lakeheart Town militia.”

“If it’s not a rebellion, that would be for the best! But if it is unfortunately a rebellion, then we can use the military force in our hands to fight against it.”

Schroeder made an immediate decision.

“Quickly prepare a horse for me! I need to leave Lakeheart Town before they find out.”