Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 545: Rebellion 13

TL: Rui88

The seat of the Lord of Alda could not remain vacant for long; this was what Hansel was thinking at that moment.

‘Should I remind everyone here not to just focus on grieving, but to quickly determine the candidate for the new lord? The Grayman family has been in the Northwest Bay for over a hundred years, and there seem to be many branch lines.’

Wait… Hansel suddenly thought, if… if a suitable heir could not be found, then the domain of Alda…and Emden, which was now attached to Alda…should theoretically be reclaimed by the royal family, including all assets on the land.

At this thought, Hansel Abbott’s heart began to race. If… if… he could persuade those present to offer the domain to the royal family, what a huge contribution that would be. The current Alda was a massive gold brick of the purest kind.

No! Hansel quickly poured a basin of cold water on himself.

If it were two years ago, perhaps he would have pushed for this without hesitation.

But today’s Hansel had other considerations. He thought about how insignificant he was in the eyes of the great figures in the capital. The small position he had gained was thanks to his connection with Paul Grayman. If this land and its assets were reclaimed by the royal family, he would lose his value as a link. Would those great figures credit him with this huge achievement?

Hansel pondered for a moment and felt that it was more likely he would be kicked aside.

So he immediately threw this naive idea out of his head and turned back to the search for a new lord.

However, was it appropriate for him alone to propose this?

He turned his gaze to the lord’s secretary, Bernard Francis, who, like him, was also from Crystal Shrine.

The lord’s secretary did not respond to him, merely staring blankly at the candlestick on the table.

“My lords!” A loud voice broke the silence in the hall.

Lieutenant Burgan of the training section pushed open the door and walked in, immediately attracting everyone’s attention.

“I know that Lord Grayman’s passing is a sorrowful matter,” he said with a serious face. “But now is not the time for mourning.”

‘What is he trying to say?’ Everyone was thinking the same thing.

“We must enthrone a new lord as soon as possible.”

Burgan’s words immediately caused an uproar in the castle hall.

Old Ford, furious, pointed a trembling finger at the young officer, “Do you know what you are saying, Burgan!”

“Outrageous! Outrageous!” Cecil shook his head repeatedly.

“Lord Grayman’s body is not yet cold, and you’re already thinking of currying favor with a new master?”

“At the very least, we should bring the traitors who assassinated Lord Grayman to justice before discussing the matter of a new lord.”

Everyone chimed in, unanimously condemning the audacious officer.

Many officials who did not usually interact with the military were even wondering to themselves, ‘who is this reckless young man? Does he have any right to speak here?’

Hansel, on the other hand, secretly felt a sense of relief. It was fortunate that he hadn’t mentioned enthroning a new lord just now, otherwise he would be the one being targeted by everyone now.

Someone began to challenge Burgan: “Did you arrange for all those militia on the streets? The entire Lakeheart Town has been placed under martial law. Who gave you the authority?”

As if he had anticipated everyone’s reaction, Burgan’s face showed no sign of panic.

He walked closer to the conference table and then unrolled a parchment scroll for everyone to see.

Then he said in a deep voice, “My lords, Lord Schroeder appointed me as the military commander of Lakeheart Town. The reason for the martial law is that we received top-secret intelligence that conspirators are lurking in Lakeheart Town, plotting a rebellion. This seems to be in concert with the assassination of Lord Grayman.”

Those present glanced at it and saw that the scroll was indeed stamped with the official seal of the General Staff. And Chief of Staff Schroeder was the most prestigious and powerful person in the Alda army besides Paul. It made sense for him to issue military orders at this time.

“Wait! Where is Schroeder? Why didn’t he come over? And where are Kelly and Ron?”

Old Ford asked with some confusion. Even if the four battalion commanders were leading the army in field training, the chief of staff and the heads of the equipment and logistics departments were themselves in Lakeheart Town. Why would they delegate to an unknown head of a training section? 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The old director of the Administration Council had started it, and everyone else began to have their own questions.

“How did you know the lord was assassinated?”

“Yes, who told you?”

A flurry of questions arose.

Burgan frowned. As expected, things would not go according to the ideal plan. Fortunately, he was prepared.

He called out, “Come in, Stefano.”

A man who appeared to be seriously injured walked in. His head was tightly wrapped in bandages, revealing only half of his face. Many places were crusted with blood, and large patches of blood had soaked through the bandages. His chest and entire right arm were also bandaged up. He walked with a limp, and his whole person looked extremely weak.

“Stefano?”

Old Ford and Philip recognized him. He was one of the guards of the Lord’s Manor.

“So, Lord… Lord Grayman was indeed killed?”

Philip asked the guard, trembling.

Stefano lowered his head, seeming not to dare to look at them, and replied in a low voice, “Yes, Lord Philip.”

Bernard, who had been silent all along, suddenly asked, “How did you get back?”

“I… Lord Grayman ordered me to break out and bring the news of the ambush back to Lakeheart Town…he was already seriously injured at the time and could not move easily. I am ashamed. We were supposed to protect Lord Grayman as he broke out…”

“Break out?”

“Yes, the traitors surrounded us using the cover of the dense forest. They seemed to be very familiar with the terrain there, and there were a great many of them.”

“Do you know who the traitors are?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t recognize anyone.”

Just as everyone was about to ask more, they were interrupted by Burgan.

“Let me first answer Lord Ford’s question just now…why Chief of Staff Schroeder and the others are not here.”

He hesitated for a moment, then said with a frown, “In fact, not long after Stefano brought back the news, we received an urgent report from the border…the armies of the surrounding domains are gathering.”

“The armies of other lords?”

Burgan’s words once again plunged everyone present into a state of great shock.

Why at this critical juncture? Wasn’t this a classic case of internal turmoil and external threats? Everyone couldn’t help but think of a terrifying possibility. This time, the internal turmoil and external threats were closely related. The people who attacked Paul… were they backed by external forces?

“In view of this…” Burgan continued, “we can’t contact the army on field training for the time being, so Lord Schroeder and the others have urgently set off for the border to deploy defenses.”