Regressor of the Fallen Family Novel - Chapter 314
Chapter 314:
“Quickly! We must make our way to Gran!”
Beneath the dim moonlight on a somber evening.
There was a flurry of activity at the manor of the ruler in the center of the Cleed territory.
“Darling, must we truly escape in this manner?”
“Have you forgotten what occurred recently? Remaining here any longer would mean our demise!”
A mature man with a mustache shouted, disregarding the plump noblewoman’s complaints and fond grumbling.
As the noblewoman’s face paled and she hesitated, the mature man pounded his chest in frustration.
“Are you paying attention? We need to flee immediately!”
The expression on Baron Ted Cleed’s face was far from pleasant.
Despite being a neglected and unimportant domain in the countryside compared to the central authorities, it was rightfully his land, inherited from his forefathers. How could he feel at peace, knowing he was fleeing from his own territory?
But he had no alternative.
‘I cannot perish like this.’
His quivering fist held not wrath but dread.
Ted Cleed was far from a compassionate lord. The oppressive tax rates, once as high as seventy percent, were just one of the numerous reasons he was despised.
Treating his subjects as mere possessions, he imposed arbitrary taxes and enlisted them for hunting expeditions, even slaying a villager out of boredom when the hunt ended poorly, revealing his ruthless nature.
Moreover, he had reinstated the long-abolished droit du seigneur.
With the frequent instances where new brides were claimed under this right and returned deceased the following day, the villagers’ resentment and animosity soared to great heights.
Yet, no one dared to oppose him.
Always surrounded by a retinue of over ten formidable knights, to the common folk, such knights were akin to superhumans, symbols of unassailable strength.
However, the tyranny upheld by such overwhelming force had crumbled due to a new decree issued by the king.
‘Cursed king. Because of that absurd decree…’
It was not solely the reduced taxes that posed a problem.
Most of his knights had been absorbed into the kingdom’s army, with only a few rotating knights stationed in his domain. These knights maintained order in collaboration with local militias and a ragtag group of soldiers who had failed to enlist in the army.
However, the knights dispatched from the kingdom harbored no loyalty to the lord, and his subjects, who were supposed to carry repeating crossbows solely during drills, carried them at all times under the pretense of hunting.
Up to that point, it had merely been a growing concern.
But the other day, during a rare hunting excursion, a quarrel abruptly grazed Ted’s cheek, transforming that concern into reality.
A surge of memories flooded his mind.
“Who dares!!”
Ted’s frozen moment shattered into a furious outburst upon spotting blood on his cheek, yet the soldiers only gazed at the knight standing beside him.
“Seize them! Accuse them of attempting nobility assassination!”
“Yes, my lord!”
Despite being a legitimate target of disdain, Ted was technically the overseer of the domain.
However, the soldiers only sprang into action to apprehend the would-be assailant after the knight gravely nodded.
It was an unpleasant sight for Ted, but he was not in a position to worry about such matters.
“Sir Cylon! You must apprehend them! I will personally tear them limb from limb…!”
Observing Ted’s explosive anger, Knight Cylon inquired calmly,
“Do you have any suspects? Someone who might bear a grudge, perhaps…”
“How dare they even consider harming a noble!? Grudges?”
“Yes. Someone who might desire your demise, my lord.”
“How could anyone! I have led an honorable life…”
Instead of displaying concern, Knight Cylon chuckled at Ted’s irate reply.
And then, with an incredulous expression, he questioned,
“Is that truly the case?”
“Eek!”
How dare a mere knight glare at him so insolently!
Ted was on the verge of shouting in furious indignation when he met Cylon’s scornful gaze and swallowed his words.
A gaze filled with disdain; although Ted had been subjected to it since Cylon’s dispatch to the area, he was powerless to retaliate.
Cylon was not solely a knight in the king’s service but also a mid-level adept in using force, a rarity in such a rural region. Even during the Grandia period, such an adept could outmatch the knights in Ted’s retinue. All Ted could do was…
“All I have done is enjoy the privileges that accompany being a noble! It is those who complain who are at fault!”
His protest was all he could muster.
Cylon’s brows furrowed even more at Ted’s words.
Having ears everywhere, he could not evade the rumors circulating about the lord, which was why he had distanced himself from Ted.
He sighed naturally as the lord pressed him.
“Sir Cylon. You are obligated to uphold the peace of this domain! Apprehend the individual who aimed an arrow at me immediately…”
“I am aware, my lord. However, we require at least a suspect to capture someone who has likely fled far away by now. Are you certain there is no one with a motive? If there truly isn’t, the search may prove challenging.”
Individuals with motives?
Certainly none among the nobility.
He had always bowed deeply to nobles more powerful than himself.
But amidst the commoners… there were far too many.
– “How do we survive now, my lord!?”
An elderly man who protested the exorbitant taxes had been fatally beaten under Ted’s command.
– “Please return my wife, my lord.”
A man who knelt and pleaded for his deceased wife to be returned had been used as “hunting prey.”
– “My lord!”
– “How could you commit such an act!”
– “Ah, monster! You are a monster!”
Countless instances of reveling in a sense of superiority while witnessing the sorrowful faces of commoners flashed through Ted’s mind.
“Do you not have anyone in mind?”
“…I, I merely exercised the rights of a righteous noble!”
“…So you have no one.”
Even to Cylon’s assertion, Ted had no response.
Well, he did have one.
“It’s the commoners! The commoners who harbored animosity towards me…!”
“Which village are you referring to?”
“They possess crossbows, do they not?”
“The militias exist in every village.”
“….”
Unable to pinpoint anyone among the sea of faces, Ted began resorting to ludicrous justifications.
“Detain all the commoners with crossbows! You will surely find one among them!”
“You wish to detain all the militia members, established by His Majesty’s direct decree, without any clear cause? Are you advocating defiance against His Majesty now?”
Ted could only fall silent at that icy tone.
He still recalled the rumor that the entire capital had once been teeming with noble corpses, an act attributed to the king.
And observing his reaction, Cylon shook his head with a sneer, his expression conveying the message: Every commoner in the domain is a suspect.
‘It will be challenging to apprehend them.’
Frankly, Cylon did not even desire to capture them.
And that assumption swiftly transformed into reality.
“I apologize, my lord. They all have solid alibis.”
“What…!”
Whether due to the investigator Cylon’s lack of will or indeed the absence of concrete evidence was suspicious, but Ted lacked the courage to pursue it.
Thus, the would-be attacker remained at large, and after days of trembling, today’s flight was finally decided.
“If we do not flee, we are doomed!”
Contemplating purchasing a residence in Gran and merely collecting taxes while residing there, Ted incessantly urged his family and servants.
Unaware of the turmoil he was causing, in his eagerness to bring along all the riches, he hurried them along.
“Move swiftly! Hurry!”
Thwack.
Snort.
Despite the coachman’s whip, the hefty carriage horses struggled to advance.
“Eek!”
The coachman, assigned only two such horses for a heap of wealth, while witnessing the rest of the lord’s family depart comfortably in their own carriage, found the situation unbelievably absurd.
He was not in a position to protest to the lord regarding these matters.
‘And they will likely blame me if we are tardy.’
Gritting his teeth, the coachman strove to catch up to the increasingly distant lord’s carriage, yet frustratingly, the horses’ progress was slow to accelerate.
However, his resentment soon transformed into gratitude towards the deities.
Thud-thud-thud.
“Aaaah!”
Neighhhh!
Sounds of something impaling and bloodcurdling screams echoed from the leading lord’s carriage.
Baron Ted Cleed and his family were assaulted and slain while attempting to escape from their domain.
Even those with scant knowledge of the Cleed barony’s location were riveted by this news.
It was speculated that the noble had been slain by commoners, after all.
The chilling impact of this event was more than enough to send chills down the spines of the MacClaine nobles, particularly those like the baron who had squeezed their subjects dry and were now even more terrified.
“Could we also meet a similar fate?”
“Nonsense, harming a noble is a grave offense. Even the most ignorant commoners comprehend that.”
Comforting each other and quelling any rising fears, the nobles conversed.
However,
The perpetrator behind Baron Cleed’s murder remains unidentified.
The enigma had not been resolved when another tragic(?) report arrived.
Baron Roman Deruna had been slain with a crossbow.
Analogous to Baron Cleed, the ruthless Lord Deruna had met his demise.
And before investigations into the assailant could properly commence,
Viscount Max Ferreta was assassinated. Once more, with a crossbow.
Startling news emerged that the head of the closest viscounty to MacClaine had been assassinated – a territory that had submitted to Logan MacClaine even before his ascension to the throne.
This information unsettled not solely the wicked nobles trembling from their own misdeeds but also instilled panic among ordinary nobles.
“If it’s Ferreta, isn’t he essentially a vassal of MacClaine?”
“If they are willing to kill such an individual…”
The anxious regional nobles eventually congregated in groups and presented a plea to the royal family.
Permitting commoners to possess repeating crossbows is hazardous. We beseech you to reconsider!
Amidst these unfolding events, another astonishing rumor shook the kingdom.
Baron Trevot Allan had enlisted mercenaries to combat his adversaries from the militia.
The Allan territory had transformed into a battleground; the clash between the commoner-representing militia and the noble-representing lord was now evident.
As the kingdom buzzed with the rumor,
“Could this lead to catastrophe?”
“It is all the fault of the nobles.”
“Listen, now is not the time to assign blame. The nation could be thrown into chaos.”
Those of sound mind, cognizant that the kingdom’s foundation was being shaken, fretted with anxiety.
Then,
All nobles are summoned to convene at the royal palace.
For the first time in a while, a grand council meeting involving all the nobles was called in the king’s name.
“We propose the dissolution of the militias!”
“The recent events are not mere assassinations.”
“That is correct! The noble lineage must be respected!”
The apprehensive nobles began to voice their concerns once given the opportunity to speak.
Directly challenging Logan’s resolute efforts to fortify national defense.
The nobles, typically too timid to oppose Logan on any significant matter, found this issue to be somewhat unique.
“The kingdom’s backbone, its nobles, are quivering with unease due to recent events. If this continues, the kingdom cannot endure. A resolution must be forthcoming, Your Majesty,” articulated Roberts Floyd, the king’s father-in-law. Given that the very foundation of the nobility system was under threat, the nobles harbored a sense of impending disaster, akin to being caught between a rock and a hard place.
However, from his elevated position in the grand council, Logan gazed down at the nobles, a faint smile creeping onto his face.
‘How does everything unfold as anticipated?’
The most significant vulnerability in MacClaine’s radical reforms.
The commoners wield more power than the nobles. This is the primary concern with Your Majesty’s current policies. If this materializes as an actual event…
He could only marvel at the servant who had foreseen this.
And the countermeasures were already in place.
“Silence!”
Thump.
The tumultuous clamor of the grand council was quelled with a single stomp from the king, who then began to speak with a frosty smile.
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