Chapter 117
"Or is it that the judge is unhappy because I didn't invite you to the banquet last night? That's none of my business. Her Highness the Princess approved the names on these invitations. You can talk to her about it."
"Mayor Ryan, don't try to distort the truth. I've never thought that way. If you say that a banquet was held normally last night, then what about the mobilization of the Iron Blood Army and the city defense forces? Those Iron Blood Army soldiers are actually Grand Duke Magana's men. They not only appeared in Berman City, but they even entered the castle. What exactly did you do last night?"
"Chief Judge Marcus," Ina adjusted her glasses, "I must remind you that whatever the mayor and the Princess do, they have no reason to report to you. On the contrary, you are making baseless and malicious speculations. According to imperial law, you should be more aware of the crime of slandering Her Highness the Princess."
"When did I slander Her Highness the Princess?" Marcus was furious. "Don't talk nonsense! I suspect Mayor Ryan is involved in the Silver Peak City affair."
"Ryan spent the entire night with the Princess in the castle, attending the engagement banquet His Highness was hosting for him and Shally Shirley. Your suspicion of him is tantamount to suspicion of His Highness and Shally Shirley, isn't it? Which prince's faction are you on?"
"I...I'm not on either side!" Marcus shouted angrily.
"Not taking sides? No wonder you doubt Shally Shirley. She was personally appointed by His Your Majesty. How dare you question His Your Majesty's decision, Marcus? You want to rebel!"
Marcus's face turned pale instantly.
"You... you're slandering! You're slandering an imperial nobleman!"
Ina calmly took out her notebook and wrote, "Chief Judge Marcus has slandered Her Highness the Princess and Shally Shirley, and is suspected of treason."
"Well..."
Ryan was stunned for a moment, thinking, "Ina, how come you can talk even more nonsense than me? You didn't mention a word about what he slandered me, and you just started rebelling, right? You are exactly... Oh, that's great, Ina, my wife!"
It has to be said that Ina's ability to slander people is even better than his; with just a few words, she left Marcus, the presiding judge, speechless.
"Your Highness, to tell you the truth, this matter was ordered by the Imperial Capital Tribunal. We will investigate Mayor Ryan, and if he is indeed related to the Silver Peak City incident, we will try him according to the Imperial Law!"
Finding himself unable to win the argument, Marcus issued an ultimatum. "Please cooperate with my work. The Imperial Tribunal protects the Empire; this is a right granted by His Your Majesty."
Caslathdi said calmly, "I'm sorry, Chief Judge Marcus, but I am an imperial Princess and have no obligation to cooperate with your work unless you produce my father's decree. Do you have one?"
Marcus's face turned extremely ugly.
If the Princess doesn't cooperate, it will be difficult for him to investigate Ryan, after all, this is Berman City, not the Imperial Capital.
"Then let's wait for news from Baron," Marcus said in a deep voice. "Just a friendly reminder, Your Highness, Ryan is just a commoner, and no matter how much you value him, that won't change. Your Majesty's refusal to grant him a title already speaks volumes. The empire belongs to His Your Majesty, and as long as he is alive, you should follow His Your Majesty's will."
After saying that, Marcus walked out of the office.
Ina waved, signaling her two other secretaries to leave with her, giving Ryan and Caslathdi some space.
"This guy is really arrogant." Ryan was a little surprised. It was rare to see Marcus, a baron, being so domineering in front of the Princess.
"The Tribunal is only accountable to my father, so I have no authority to order them around." Caslathdi shook his head. "However, judging from Marcus's attitude, they want to get to the bottom of this matter."
"Hmm... I'm wondering if we can force him to sign a contract."
"It's best not to," Caslathdi said. "Each judge has undergone special training, and I suspect they have developed countermeasures against forced contracts. It's too risky and not worth the risk."
"Is that so?"
If it can't be controlled, then the only option is to resolve it, but at this time the Imperial Tribunal is watching closely, so he can't take direct action.
Ryan wasn't worried. Let them investigate if they want. It would be best if they found out it was the Old Emperor's doing— Your Majesty, why are you rebelling?
Just then, the office phone rang.
"Hello?"
It was Jonathan calling.
"What are you doing, kid? Why have you surrounded the Tribunal so early in the morning?"
"Huh? I'm in the office. I just woke up a little while ago."
"It's Shally Shirley. She's surrounded the Tribunal with her troops. You'd better go check it out!"
Ha??
Ryan paused for a moment.
"What's wrong?" Caslathdi asked curiously.
"Shally has surrounded the Tribunal." Ryan stroked his chin and smiled. "This is going to be interesting."
He was indeed a commoner, but his fiancée was a viscount!
The Imperial Viscount has a temper. So what if you're the Tribunal? You dare to slander me? Then I'll send troops!
Even if they don't actually fight, just the show of it is intimidating enough. The Tribunal are paid to do their jobs, aren't they afraid? Of course they are.
Anyway, it's his own territory, Ryan isn't worried at all. Old Emperor don't want to care? Fine, I'll take care of it for you!
"Come on, let's make this a big deal."
Da da da da.
Outside the Tribunal in Zhongcheng District.
Soldiers marched in orderly formation, completely surrounding the Tribunal. Under 'Shally's' orders, these soldiers, armed with muskets, stood ready and prohibited anyone from entering or leaving the Tribunal at will.
"Hey! What's going on here? Who gave you permission to be here?!"
"Obstructing the work of the Tribunal —do you know what that means?"
"Bring your manager out here!"
When Marcus returned to the Tribunal, he was even stopped at the outside and asked to be searched before he could enter. The reason given was that the Tribunal had slandered the Imperial Viscount, and the Viscount had requested... oh, nothing else, just to surround him first.
You slandered me, so I'm not happy about it and will send troops to suppress you.
Prove innocence? Why should I prove it? The burden of proof lies with the person making the claim, and you don't have any evidence either.
"Rebellion! Are you even Imperial soldiers?" Marcus roared.
The Tribunal has always held a 'high and mighty' position in the Empire. During his many years in Berman City, even Bill had to take the initiative to cultivate a good relationship with him. However, after Ryan took office, the Tribunal's status declined again and again, and it completely moved towards becoming a 'public welfare' institution 'serving the people'.
"I'm sorry, Chief Judge Marcus, we are just following Shally Shirley's orders," the officer in charge said.
"Has Shally Shirley gone mad? She's on the verge of treason!" Marcus roared. "Where is she? I need to see her!"
"I'm sorry, Shally is busy."
"Damn it! Call the guards out! Call the guards out!" Marcus roared. "Let these damned city guards see that the Imperial Tribunal isn't so easy to bully!"
The Tribunal can train its own armed forces for daily operations, with expenses generally covered directly by the Empire. However, given the current situation in the Augustus Empire, local lords often voluntarily cover these costs in order to maintain good relations with the Tribunal.
The Berman City Tribunal has a small security detail of only two hundred men, and their training is not particularly outstanding. However, Marcus is betting that 'Shally's' gun is unloaded and that the encirclement of the Tribunal is just a bluff.
He represents the empire!
However, 'Shally's' gun was loaded with bullets, and plenty of them.
This is the moment she's been waiting for.
After encountering armed resistance from the Tribunal, the city defense forces decisively carried out 'Shally's' bloody suppression order. In an instant, the entire Tribunal was filled with the roar of gunfire, and blood mixed with gunpowder smoke filled the air above Berman City, making the sky appear particularly gloomy today.
Ryan sat in his office, listening to the latest Blood Robe report from the front lines, though he didn't really need to read it. He just wanted to make things bigger, and it was perfect to let 'Shally' handle it.
He could take this opportunity to completely dismantle the Tribunal and also test the Old Emperor's attitude. If the other party was unwilling to step forward to help him out of this predicament, then he would have to help himself.
The bloody crackdown lasted less than an hour. The entire Tribunal was awash in blood. The city's defense forces stormed in and arrested all the relevant staff. Marcus and several other judges who resisted fiercely were all 'accidentally killed' in the chaos.
After the battle ended and the city defense troops began clearing the battlefield, the citizens dared to peek out to observe the situation.
"The Tribunal... it's gone just like that?"
"Serves them right, who told them to slander Mayor Ryan?"
"Isn't this a bit too extreme?"
"What impact will the loss of the Tribunal have on you? If something happens to Mayor Ryan, Berman City's good days are over."
"Exactly, the Tribunal should have been abolished long ago. What else can they do besides being the dogs of the nobles?"
Although the city garrison's bloody suppression was somewhat extreme, the citizens of Berman City still stood by Ryan's side, which made Master Ryan very gratified. At least the things he did as mayor were not in vain, were they?
"Let's let the bullets fly for a while."
Ryan leaned back on the sofa and started playing games.
As expected, the Old Emperor contacted him that afternoon.
"Ryan, what do you mean by this?" the Old Emperor said in a deep voice. "Openly destroying the Imperial Tribunal, you have quite the nerve."
"Your Majesty, I am innocent!" Ryan cried out. "It was not my intention to do this, but Marcus was so aggressive that I had no choice but to act!"
"Forced to do it? Hmph!" The Old Emperor sneered. "The Tribunal represents the Empire. They were merely performing their duties by investigating the murder of a nobleman in Silver Peak City. The investigation hadn't even begun, and you were already forced to kill him? Are you announcing to everyone that the affairs of Silver Peak City are related to you?"
"Your Majesty, you have misunderstood me. The matter of Silver Peak City has nothing to do with me. I am worried that they will find out that Your Majesty instructed me to take control of the Southern Territory." Ryan sighed. "Your Majesty is unaware that this matter was done by Magana."
"Oh?"
The Old Emperor narrowed his eyes slightly.
"She's directly interfering in the Southern Territory?"
"No, but she knew I wanted to control the Southern Territory, so she took it upon herself to eliminate those who disobeyed me."
"..."
The Old Emperor fell silent.
He knew about Ryan's engagement to 'Shally,' which was essentially a process of choosing sides.
Ryan controlled those people, and the remaining group naturally became the 'enemies' who could be clearly identified.
This does indeed fit Magana's style, and the Hand of Darkness is indeed active within Silver Peak City...
"Ryan, you should know that no one but me can bestow upon you supreme glory," the Old Emperor said calmly. "Magana is not, and my son and daughter are even less so. So don't even think about having any other ideas, just do your job well."
"I understand, but I still hope Your Majesty can help me with this matter. If the Imperial Tribunal gets involved, I will never be able to leave these three cities for the rest of my life."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
Ryan chuckled inwardly. The old man just talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk? Not so easy.
"There's one more thing," Ryan said, feigning difficulty. "Your Majesty, shouldn't you give me the title you promised? Without it, my rule over the Southern Territory is not legitimate."
"Do your job well, and when the time is right, I will give it to you naturally. Three months, I will give you three months to completely take control of the Southern Territory."
"Three months?"
Ryan lowered his head. "Your Majesty, time is a bit tight... It would be fine to start a war, but I'm worried the Empire will object."
"Don't worry, I'm here. Just do your job. In three months, I will give you everything you want."
The Old Emperor's phantom disappeared before Ryan's eyes.
"That old bastard was definitely up to no good."
Ryan stroked his chin.
His asking the other party for a title was a final test.
As expected.
The Old Emperor was withholding the title, and Ryan could foresee that once he seized control of the Southern Territory through war and helped the old man deal with Magana, the Old Emperor would accuse him of treason. Given Ryan's commoner status and the absence of Castradis, the Caslathdi would collapse instantly.
The common people don't hold power.
It doesn't matter.
If he doesn't hold power, someone else will.
Ryan opened the character interface for 'Vainay'.
Once the Southern Territory is unified, it will be time for 'Vainay' to make a 'claim'.
Vainay: I will go into battle in Gundam form!
First update! Continuing with a 10,000-word daily update today, please vote with your monthly tickets! Please support me!!!
The changes are a mess, but there's no way to get it approved.
Update later tonight
As the title says, I went out this afternoon, and I'll write this one when I get back in the evening. I'll post it later.
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