Pursuit and Suicide
After Viscount Borey left, he noticed that Mora's anger had not subsided.
Count Lagos could only comfort Speaker Lance and let him leave first.
Watching Speaker Lance leave in a disheveled state, Mora spat, "If you hadn't stopped me, I would have given him at least ten more lashes."
Count Lagos gave a wry smile. "My Grand Duke, Speaker Lance is not only a distant relative of the Ducal House, but also a genuine viscount. You must give him the respect he deserves, which will also benefit your future rule."
"Come on, I know perfectly well that the proposal I made to strip those nobles who followed Jora of their titles was rejected by a vote organized by this guy."
Count Lagos sighed and said no more.
"The nobles who followed Jora accounted for nearly half of the independent nobles in the entire duchy. At that time, even you had a group of nobles secretly colluding with you. If you really wanted to pursue him, no one could escape involvement."
Pretending not to remember anything and just letting it go is the best way to handle it.
"Well, he's my grandson, so if I don't help him, who will?"
Seeing that Count Lagos was no longer speaking, Mora simply told him to go home and report back when there was progress on Viscount Borey's side.
Count Lagos had no choice but to leave Maple Leaf Palace first.
On the other side, Viscount Borey dispatched his troops to impose martial law on the entire Silver Maple City, and all the main roads and docks leading out of the city were blocked by the Imperial Guard Legion.
Many of the nobles who attended the meeting today have not yet left. These nobles are the undisputed rulers in their own territories, but they can only back down in the face of the unreasonable Duchy Imperial Guard.
After several hours of investigation, Viscount Borey discovered the unusual behavior of the city gate guards in the afternoon, when he had cleared the guards from the east gate for unknown reasons.
Viscount Borey was always decisive and efficient, especially since this time he had received the order directly from Grand Duke Mora.
He arrested the guards and interrogated them, and sure enough, he discovered clues about Count Lloyd.
The guard confessed that someone had bribed him to open the city gate and let them pass, while also helping them conceal their whereabouts.
The East Gate was located near the Silver Maple City Wharf, so Viscount Borey sent men to the wharf to inquire. Through comparison, they found a suspected target who was likely to have boarded a boat at the wharf around 2 p. m. and headed south via the Blackwater River tributary route.
Five hours had passed since the suspected target set off. Knowing that time was of the essence, Viscount Borey immediately dispatched a large contingent of Light Cavalry to pursue them.
Given the failure of the previous interception mission, Viscount Borey personally led the troops this time.
Each Cavalry rode two horses and carried dried salted meat and water as supplies. In order to catch up with the ships, Viscount Borey ordered that no one rest, and that they had to eat, drink, and relieve themselves on horseback.
After a night of pursuit, Viscount Borey finally intercepted the ship near a dock in York County at around 7 a. m. the next morning.
This place is not far from Blackwater City. If the ships travel another ten kilometers or so, they can directly cross Blackwater City and enter the territory of the Southern Four Counties. At that time, there will be no stopping them.
Fortunately, Viscount Borey had notified the Third Legion in Blackwater City in advance, and the Third Legion dispatched a small fleet to intercept the target ship.
Five sand barges on the river had surrounded a medium-sized passenger ship, suppressing the guards on board with arrows. Then, soldiers of the Third Legion tied the passenger ship to their sand barges by throwing ropes.
On the shore were Viscount Borey's Imperial Guard Cavalry. To confirm the target, Viscount Borey boarded a ship of the Third Legion and attempted to approach the target vessel.
This is a passenger ship with no defensive cover. Apart from the middle cabin, the deck is now covered with arrows, and several of the ship's guards have been shot dead on the deck.
Viscount Borey ordered an attempt to approach the passenger ships and force a landing, but the ship's guards put up fierce resistance, fighting bravely and repelling the Third Legion's troops who tried to board the ships several times.
When Viscount Borey saw this scene, he felt that he had met the right person. This must be Count Lloyd, otherwise there wouldn't be so many elite and loyal warriors.
However, the soldiers of the Third Legion were not skilled in naval warfare, and they were driven off the ship several times when they tried to board it. It was unlikely that they would be able to take down the ship in the short term.
Viscount Borey decided to try other methods. He stood at the bow of the ship and shouted, "Earl Count Lloyd, I am Viscount Borey. I am here on the orders of the Grand Duke to ask you to return to Silver Maple City. Please do not refuse. These loyal and brave soldiers should not die like this. Don't you feel heartbroken?"
Viscount Borey called out three times, but no one on the passenger ship paid him any attention, which made him both anxious and angry. On the one hand, he felt slighted, and on the other hand, he did not receive a definite answer. He also did not know whether the person he had chased after was actually Count Lloyd.
This delayed the ship for another hour, until Viscount Borey finally lost his patience. He led his Imperial Guard Cavalry onto the ship and personally initiated the boarding operation.
Thus, after a brief battle, although the Imperial Guards were very brave, they were, after all, Cavalry. In order to capture the ship, this Cavalry battalion of only about 500 men suffered one-fifth casualties, and several of them fell into the water and their bodies were never found.
The guards on the passenger ship were also mostly killed in battle. Their numbers were less than fifty, yet they had expended five times the number of enemies. Viscount Borey was now more certain that he had found the right person.
Just as Viscount Borey boarded the ship to try to persuade the people in the cabin to surrender, he found that there was no sound from inside the cabin.
He thought to himself, "This is bad!"
He rushed into the cabin first, but saw that the person inside had committed suicide, and the person who committed suicide looked exactly like Count Lloyd, both in clothes and appearance.
Seeing this, Viscount Borey had no choice but to take the body back to report.
At that moment, Count Black, far to the east, received a carrier pigeon from Baron Lovsky in Silver Maple City. He learned from the letter that the plans were proceeding smoothly.
"It seems the first phase has been completed. Now, this old body of mine needs to get moving."
"Victor, I've invested tens of thousands of gold coins in this whole affair. You owe me such a huge favor, so you can't refuse to be Brando's guardian now, can you?"
The Count Black then ordered his men to issue a conscription order to all the independent nobles in Boler County.
The conscription order required all nobles and their private armies participating in the campaign against the two Northlands territories to arrive in Dos, the Dos City of Boler County, before October 10.
If the participant arrives late or fails to arrive, it will be considered as a waiver of participation in the operation.
The butler raised a question to Count Black.
"Count Excellency, there are still many nobles who have not returned from Silver Maple City. Would it be too much to ask them to arrive in Dos City within 10 days?"
"That's exactly what I meant by making things difficult. My original goal was to reduce the number of troops assembled, the fewer the better, so that it would be easier to handle."
"Alright, you should go and prepare the necessary supplies for the march. This time, I'm going to lead the troops into battle personally."
"But Count Excellency, your health cannot withstand this. Why not send a senior officer from the territory? Knight Yellen and Viscount Sonanda would be very suitable candidates."
"It's better if I carry out this plan myself. I didn't plan to win anyway. Don't try to persuade me. I know my own body."
"I understand, sir."
The butler reluctantly agreed to Count Black's decision.