Committee of Freedom Allies

Saint-Just looked at the flimsy piece of paper in the Mounted Police's hand; he could vaguely make out his own handwriting on it.

His face turned deathly pale, and his heart began to pound uncontrollably in his chest.

How did that letter end up in the hands of the France Police?! Did Josen betray the club? Impossible, he's Rousseau's student...

The letter was personally delivered to Brussels by Josen; if it wasn't him, then there could only be a traitor within the Southern Netherlands "Committee"!

Saint-Just glared at Yeskute, who was standing not far away, then pointed at the Police Force and shouted to the surrounding farmers, "They're lying! Don't be fooled!"

While the hundreds of people present were momentarily stunned, he suddenly jumped off the stone platform and ran desperately toward the path leading out of the village.

The Southern Netherlands "committee" liaison hesitated for two seconds before lunging at the mounted Mounted Police, attempting to snatch the letter from his hand.

The Mounted Police was nothing like his usual clumsy self— Police Reform hadn't covered rural Mounted Police, some of whom were part of the Taxation system and therefore mostly undertrained—he deftly dodged Yeskute's attack and delivered a kick to his shin.

Yeskute lost his balance instantly and fell headfirst to the ground. Two Mounted Police nearby immediately rushed over and pinned him down.

The farmers stared in astonishment at the scene before them, then turned to look at Saint-Just back was now the only visible figure. Without the Mounted Police saying anything more, they understood the gist of it and immediately began whispering amongst themselves.

The Police Force still handed the letter to the farmers, and after they had read it once, he took it back and put it in his pocket.

In reality, the letter was a forgery. The real letter was still locked in the drawer of an official from the Southern Netherlands "Committee".

Among the "committee" members captured by the Intelligence Bureau, some had seen a few of the letters. Fouche then had them roughly copied. They then retrieved letters from France Liberals members from the Postal Service system to imitate handwriting.

The dozen or so Mounted Police were actually mostly agents of the Intelligence Bureau in disguise. They flashed the flawed letter in front of Saint-Just, who then fled in a panic.

Of course, if he hadn't run, the Mounted Police wouldn't have actually handed him the letter for a "confrontation," but would have arrested him on the spot. Which of those farmers could tell if the letter was genuine?

Even if Saint-Just handles the situation well, exposes the agent, and escapes successfully, it doesn't matter. Because the same scene is playing out simultaneously in more than a dozen other places, including Lille and Reims.

Among those rioting Liberals leaders, there General Association be some who lack the mental fortitude to flee. As long as someone runs away out of guilt, it's tantamount to admitting to the charges, and the farmers present will all become witnesses.

In reality, almost all the Liberals who incited the unrest were now feeling guilty; the only difference was whether they would flee immediately or continue to resist and try to incite the farmers to fight against the Police.

The Police Force ordered his men to lift Yeskute up, then gestured for a man with his hands tied behind him to come forward. "Do you know him?"

The man nodded immediately. "His name is Yeskute. He's one of the seven representatives of the 'Committee'."

The Police Force waved again toward the farmers. "Tell them, who are you?"

"My name is Henry Bell. The committee sent me to spread rumors and incite conflict France peasants and Nobility, in order to relieve the military pressure on Brussels..."

The Police Force, satisfied, gestured for his men to take him away. Then he said to the farmers present, "As you can see, you've all been fooled by the Southern Netherlands, and of course, by those so-called Liberals. They're just using you to cause trouble. They don't care at all whether you're arrested or even killed."

The farmers immediately stirred; the more timid ones had already quietly slipped back home.

Two other farmers nervously whispered among themselves, then shuffled cautiously towards the Mounted Police, each pulling a few Silver Coin from their pockets. Pointing at Yeskute, they stammered, "Sir, he... he said this is ' Freedom Allowance,' so we..."

"We really didn't know he was there to incite riots. We've already handed over the money, and we'll never do it again..."

While members of the Southern Netherlands "Committee" in Reims, Lille, and other places were being arrested en masse by the Intelligence Bureau, in a cell at the Reims Police Department, more than thirty young Nobility were muttering curses under their breath:

"These stupid Police are actually accusing us of being rioters!"

"They dare not keep us locked up for too long. There must be many people at the Versailles Palace who are speaking out and praising our heroic deeds."

"Once I leave here, I'll go and teach those lowly people a lesson! They actually tried to use threats against the government to cheat us out of land; we can't let them succeed!"

Although it's called a prison, the conditions here are actually quite good. Five people share a suite, which has a living room, a bathroom, and even musical instruments hanging on the walls.

The sound of heavy boots echoed down the corridor between the cells. A moment later, a group of prison guards led in three handcuffed, dejected men.

The door to the outermost cell was opened. The guard roughly threw the three men inside, coldly saying, "Good luck, you bastards!"

The iron gate slammed shut, and the prison guards turned and left.

From the cell opposite, a Nobility called out to the three men through a small window in the door, "Hey, gentlemen, what 'great deeds' have brought you here?"

The three of them glanced at him dejectedly, but remained silent.

Laughter from the prison guards came from outside the cell. One of them knocked on the cell door with his baton and said to the three men, "Hey Netherlands, why aren't you answering him?"

"Oh, you're from the Netherlands?" Nobility immediately chimed in. "To be imprisoned here, you must be quite something, right?"

The newly imprisoned men caught a glimpse of the guards' threatening gaze through the small window and could only turn to the Nobility and whisper, "We are... sent by the 'Committee'."

"A committee?" The other Nobility were more interested. "Is it the River Transport Committee, or the Geological Committee?"

"Yes, yes, it's the ' Committee of Freedom Allies '..."

"Huh? What does that do? I've never heard of it."

The Netherlands spoke with difficulty, "We've been in contact with the Liberals France France, trying to incite riots... The farmers in Reims were besieged by us, no, we incited City Hall..."

The faces of the Nobility in the surrounding cells immediately turned ashen.

"Damn it! It was you who instigated this behind the scenes!"

"No wonder those lowly people have Flintlock Gun; they were provided by the Southern Netherlands!"

"#@￥! Let me out! I want to duel these guys!"

However, the prison guards did not give these Nobility a chance to duel; instead, they were released two days later.