Chapter 215: The Scapegoat

Chapter 215: The Scapegoat

West Borough, 9 Hope Street, the prime minister’s residence.

Agushed Negan stood behind a broad desk, his expression grave as he looked at Earl Hall across from him.

“Your Excellency Earl, my secretary should already have informed you of what has happened. You are the first noble I thought of at this moment.”

This Conservative Party heavyweight, the current prime minister of the cabinet, seemed to have aged several years all at once. His tall, thin figure leaned slightly forward, as if he could not quite bear the blow of the terrible news and had to support himself with both hands on the table.

Yet his eyes remained sharp, and his attitude remained calm.

Earl Hall, who wore two handsome little mustaches, sighed.

“I am deeply sorry to hear this news. It has shocked me greatly. I was planning to visit His Grace in the next few days to discuss several bills that concerned both of us. Who would have thought he would be attacked…”

His youthful handsomeness had been marred by deep nasolabial folds and the stoutness of age. He first expressed mourning, grief, and sympathy, then restrained his emotions and said, “His Grace has already passed away. Compared to weeping and rage, what we need now is caution and calm. Only in this way can we handle the aftermath properly and keep the kingdom’s heavy steam locomotive from derailing.”

“That is precisely why I came to you first. The other nobles will only cry out to the gods, tremble in fear, say they cannot accept it, and demand that the murderer be severely punished at once and that the mastermind behind it be found. In their view, if even the duke, surrounded by layer after layer of protection, could be assassinated, what about them?” Prime Minister Agushed said in a low voice. “That is a very normal, very natural, and understandable reaction, but it is not the reaction we need.”

Earl Hall nodded, then changed the subject and asked, “Who was the murderer? What was the motive?”

“A Demon who disguised himself as a banker for more than ten years. A real Demon. Ah, by the way, your Bavart Bank just acquired his business,” Agushed stated without much change in his tone.

“Patrick Jason?” Earl Hall immediately recalled the name.

That acquisition involving the bank had been personally approved by him.

Prime Minister Agushed did not blame him. After some thought, he said, “He was Sequence 5, yet he suddenly sold off his businesses, abandoned an identity he had operated for over a decade, and risked extreme danger to assassinate my brother. Based on this, we can make a strong guess: he was instructed by some person or some faction. Unfortunately, he was killed while fleeing. Even his spirit body was taken away. According to the Nighthawks’ report, it was done by that chivalrous bandit Black Emperor.”

“It involves an extremely secretive organization, and we cannot figure it out in a short time?” Earl Hall asked in return.

“Yes. That so-called chivalrous bandit left no traces whatsoever. We can only start from the people Jason came into contact with over the past several months. That will certainly take a great deal of time, and it may not yield any results,” Agushed answered affirmatively.

Earl Hall paced two steps and asked, “What is His Majesty’s attitude?”

“Grief, but no specific idea,” Agushed replied.

Earl Hall frowned and thought for a while before saying, “In that case, what matters most is no longer who the mastermind is, but what we wish to achieve through this matter. If we want war and wish to restart the contest for the colonies, then tell the public that Patrick Jason was instructed by the Feysac Empire. Fabricate a detailed process for them, and produce evidence that appears convincing enough. For the past several hundred or thousand years, our neighbor to the north has always played a similar role. I believe everyone should already be accustomed to it and will not question it. It is very, very, very normal for barbarians to do such a thing.”

“And the public fears them,” Prime Minister Agushed said, the corners of his mouth twitching without the slightest mirth. “But we are in the midst of a series of reforms. We will not stabilize and gain the ability to launch a war until the second half of next year at the earliest.”

Earl Hall pondered and said, “Then find a target everyone can accept. The chivalrous bandit Black Emperor is too mysterious, and the secret organization behind him even more so. If we announce it like this, it will certainly trigger enormous panic. People always fear the unknown—things they do not understand well enough.

“Mm, what about the Aurora Order? They only assassinated that Intis libertine a few months ago. No one would be surprised by anything they do.

“Their reputation is bad enough. Their situation has been repeatedly described in newspapers and magazines, and they have even become horror elements and classic villains in many novels. Moreover, this can effectively dispel suspicions toward us. Some people always believe we commissioned the Aurora Order to carry out the previous assassination.

“Also, while cracking down on terrorist and illegal organizations, we can take the opportunity to clean up Backlund. Far too many dangerous people are hiding here.”

Agushed gave an “Mm.”

“The Aurora Order is a decent target…

“We will target them first. Next year, once our preparations are complete, we will announce the investigation results and accuse the Feysac Empire of manipulating the Aurora Order. I imagine no one will care about the excuses of a terrorist organization or the northern barbarians.”

Earl Hall froze for a moment.

“That goes one step further than what I had in mind.”

Agushed said no more. Straightening his body, he said, “I will now go meet His Majesty.”

At this point, he glanced at Earl Hall.

“You must also pay attention to your safety. We still have not figured out the motive behind that group assassinating my brother. Hmph. The Church of Storms has already agreed to replace Backlund’s archbishop. Snake is always late at critical moments! Believers of the Storms are always so irritable, angry, stubborn, arrogant, and easy to manipulate!”

“Do not harbor prejudice. Lurmi, for example, is very wise.” Earl Hall first chuckled softly, then tapped his chest four times. “Thank you. The Goddess will protect me.”

…

“The Twilight Hermit Order… That name sounds quite classy…” Klein, who had returned to the real world, stood up and pressed the mechanical button of the flush toilet.

Amid the rushing sound of water, he walked out of the washroom and began thinking over the information he had obtained through spirit channeling just now.

He suspected that the Twilight Hermit Order was the very ancient organization Emperor Roselle had joined—the one that possessed the second Blasphemy Slate.

For the sake of the so-called course of history, they chose to find someone to assassinate Duke Negan. That sounds a little absurd, yet somehow it also seems to make a certain kind of sense… Their goal is to revive, or rather awaken, the original Creator? This is somewhat similar to the belief of the City of Silver. Little Sun and the others never believe that the Lord who created everything has already perished. They only accept the idea that He abandoned that region and have always tried to receive a response… Klein paced back and forth, letting his thoughts spread freely.

After an unknown length of time, he suddenly heard a knocking sound.

Knock, knock, knock.

Outside was neither an attendant nor a maid of the Krag Club, but Carlson, the Machinery Hivemind member Klein had met before, the one wearing thick glasses.

“How did you get in?” Klein deliberately blurted out.

Seeing that Klein was indeed inside the room, Carlson visibly relaxed. Seeing that no one was nearby, he smiled and said, “As a Beyonder, one always has all sorts of methods.”

He must have received news from Deacon Ikanser about the Apostle of Desire’s death and come to confirm my situation. My performance seems to have succeeded. The “human disappearing act” was not exposed, and I hid it successfully… Klein’s heart stirred, and he said, “Your expression tells me there is good news?”

“Yes. Patrick Jason Beria has already been killed. You are safe now and no longer need to accept our protection,” Carlson said truthfully.

Hearing such feedback, Klein felt as though the potion inside him had accelerated its digestion once more.

He asked in both surprise and delight, “You’re certain?”

“Certain,” Carlson answered affirmatively.

“That’s wonderful!” Klein said happily.

Carlson looked at him and praised him sincerely.

“Your detective intuition and logical thinking gave us the most important help. The deacon said in his letter that a reward will be given to you discreetly afterward—about 1,000 pounds.”

One thousand pounds… Not bad. Quite generous! But even if the banknotes beneath Jason’s suitcase were all five-pound and one-pound notes, and even if his jewelry wasn’t especially precious, the total should still be around 50,000 pounds… Mrs. Mary of the Air Pollution Investigation Committee, including the value of her Coim Company shares, has about that much net worth at most…

Mm, Jason’s accomplice, the one who put on human skin to draw away the Singer of God, probably took part of it. What remained might only be twenty or thirty thousand pounds, but that still isn’t comparable to one thousand. What a pity… I shouldn’t think this way. Perhaps Jason’s accomplice had taken away all the wealth in advance… Klein felt both disappointed and delighted.

Moreover, the Machinery Hivemind’s willingness to give him a reward further proved the success of his recent acting. It made him feel that he was only one step away from completely digesting the Magician potion.

“This is what I should have done. I was one of the people being threatened, after all.” Klein piled on a smile.

He was not worried Jason’s accomplice would come to retaliate afterward. This revenge had only been a pretext, and more importantly, by then, he would certainly already be Sequence 6.

Carlson pushed up his glasses and chose his words carefully.

“Sherlock, you are also a believer of God. We hope to establish a good relationship with you. In the future, should you encounter anything or collect any information, you may tell us.”

They’re developing me into an informant for the Machinery Hivemind… I now have another reimbursement channel… Klein seriously drew a triangular sacred emblem over his chest.

“No problem.”

…

No longer under the protection of the Machinery Hivemind, Klein stayed at the Krag Club until after dinner before leisurely returning to 15 Minsk Street by carriage.

Habitually, he opened the mailbox and saw a new letter without a stamp.

This was a letter left by the great detective Isengard Stanton after failing to visit him in the afternoon. It read:

“…I heard from the Machinery Hivemind about the suggestion you made. Your sharpness and rigor are astonishing. If you had not already become a Beyonder, I would even think the Reader pathway was the most suitable for you.

“You are the young person most skilled in deduction that I have ever met!”

…

Standing in the living room, Klein finished reading Isengard’s letter by the light of the gas wall lamp.

This performance did not contain anything novel. It followed the same steps as before and repeated what had already been done. It did not even play that large a role… But it was successful because there were enough audience members, and they were all around me, giving me direct feedback… Holding the letter, Klein suddenly felt something in his heart.

He half closed his eyes. He felt as though something inside his body was swiftly shattering and dissipating. He felt many illusory stars appear around him. He felt the brilliant points weakly attracting one another.

In the final month of 1349, his Magician potion had finally been digested.