At dawn, Earl Hall woke up at his usual time and took a walk in his garden and on his lawn.
After he finished looking at his beloved thoroughbreds and returned to the third floor of the villa to change into his outdoor clothes, his wife Caitlyn had already gotten up and was instructing her personal maid to convey the arrangements she had just thought of.
"It's time for breakfast," Earl Hall said to his wife with a smile, standing by the coat rack.
Just then, he heard a commotion outside, which grew closer and closer and showed no signs of abating.
Earl Hall frowned almost imperceptibly and glanced at his personal valet.
Without the nobleman needing to speak, his personal servant immediately went to the window and pulled back the remaining thin gauze curtain.
With a whoosh, more light streamed into the bedroom, illuminating its pristine state.
The personal male servant then turned his gaze to the window, glanced around a few times, and his expression suddenly became serious.
He turned around, glanced at the countess who was still talking to the maid, quickly walked to the Earl Hall's side, and lowered his voice:
"A march! Many people are marching!"
Protests? Earl Hall was no stranger to the term. As a nobleman of Loen and the second-largest shareholder of the Constant Coal and Steel Consortium, he had seen many workers gather and protest, demanding higher weekly wages and regulations on maximum working hours. In the past month or two, Backlund had also seen several protests due to various issues, but they were all quickly quelled and had no significant impact.
Earl Hall's gaze lingered on his personal valet's face for a few seconds, his eyes narrowing as he keenly sensed that today's parade might not be quite what he had imagined.
He walked forward silently and came to the window.
At first glance, Earl Hall's gaze suddenly froze.
Taking advantage of being on the third floor, he saw a dense crowd of people on the road in the distance, gathered together and surging in this direction, like a huge dark cloud about to engulf Backlund.
"Bread!"
We want bread!
The shouts of thousands, tens of thousands, or even more people converged, gradually becoming louder and clearer, making Earl Hall's scalp tingle slightly.
He had seen so many people and heard so many voices before when he participated in mass and other events at Memorial Day Square, but back then, he could barely be considered part of the crowd, a part of the whole. Today, however, he was one of the targets of that surging "tide".
Earl Hall couldn't help but glance at the back of the parade, only to find it stretched endlessly. However, with his extensive experience, he was able to make a judgment based on some of the details he observed.
He could see very few police officers and soldiers on both sides of the parade; compared to the large crowd, they were like tiny waves on the ocean, extremely insignificant.
Earl Hall believed that the protests in Queens Borough would be brought under the strongest possible control, and that a large number of soldiers and police would be deployed. The current situation could only mean one thing:
There were just too many people participating in the march!
As a result, the soldiers and police were too scattered!
A march of over 100,000 people? Perhaps even more... A march fueled by food shortages could easily turn into riots and looting... It seems quite orderly now... Is it because there are many organizers and leaders? Damn it, didn't Military Intelligence Section 9 and the major churches detect a single sign? How could a march of this scale be organized overnight? Even if Backlund has become a powder keg, it would take striking many matches to ignite it! One thought after another flashed through the Earl Hall's mind, his expression growing increasingly grave.
"Bread!"
We want bread!
The shouts grew more and more unified and louder, as if a tsunami had struck the city.
At this moment, the male and female servants in the Earl Hall's mansion noticed the commotion and rushed to the windows, looking out the gate.
Their faces immediately turned pale, as if they had encountered a flood that had burst its banks and could not escape it.
"Bread!"
We want bread!
Countless voices mingled together, and the dense mass of heads created an overwhelming sense of oppression.
Earl Hall awoke with a start and instinctively tried to send a telegram to the royal family, urging them to send troops to suppress the rebellion.
But upon closer inspection, he discovered that many people in the parade were wearing military uniforms and had physical disabilities.
"Bread!"
We want bread!
The soldiers maintaining order watched the march with a mixture of vigilance and sympathy, their guns pointed skyward.
Among those people were their former comrades-in-arms, their parents, wives and children, their friends and neighbors, and a large number of living, breathing people just like them, who only wanted to avoid starvation. How could they not feel pity and compassion for them?
Such sentiments may have the Original arisen in the minds of only five or six soldiers and policemen, but they quickly spread to almost everyone.
In the past, under the supervision of officers with pistols, they would have mechanically accepted every order. But now, many of them are thinking:
Which son of a bitch dares to make me shoot? I'll shoot him dead!
"Bread!"
We want bread!
Amidst the shouts and the impact of the large crowd gathering, Earl Hall's face paled slightly.
He couldn't help but look away, glancing at the guards and bodyguards gathered outside the house, and then at the Beyonder of the Church of Evernight who were responsible for protecting his family. He noticed that their reactions were quite different.
The guards and bodyguards were filled with fear, and the Beyonder he had hired, hidden inside, had become quite serious, while the Protector of the Church of Evernight looked on with sympathy and pity.
To the church, I might be equivalent to a thousand believers here, while there are tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even more outside... Earl Hall suddenly had this realization, gaining a clear understanding of the consequences of what he had previously planned to do:
Even armed to the teeth, the small number of guards was simply no match for so many protesters. Once a conflict broke out, the Beyonder of the Church of Evernight were of no use. It would be a miracle if his family could escape Queens Borough with the help of hired bodyguards!
For the first time, Earl Hall experienced the power of numbers and the terror of so many people gathered together.
In a flash, he turned his head and instructed his personal male servant:
"I sent a telegram to the Prime Minister and to the other nobles, saying that I was willing to take the lead and donate the vast majority of the grain!"
"Please tell them they must stay calm!"
As radio waves passed and were exchanged, the nobles living in Queens Borough learned of the Earl Hall's attitude.
The current Duke Negan glanced solemnly out the window, remained silent for a moment, exhaled, and said to his male secretary beside him:
"Protect the mansion, abandon the hardline stance, and follow Earl Hall's lead."
"Also, let's start by making an example of those merchants who hoarded grain!"
Once the upper class had reached a preliminary consensus and devised a solution, Earl Hall finally felt at ease and had the energy to go to the restaurant to reunite with his family.
As he passed through the restaurant door, he subconsciously glanced at the situation inside.
The wife stood by the window, gazing anxiously outside; the eldest son paced back and forth, appearing very angry and agitated; the daughter stood beside her wife, watching the procession move forward like a tide in complete silence.
The Sonia Sea, " Future "
Cattleya stepped onto the deck via a long, glittering bridge formed by starlight.
"Captain, you have to teach Frank a lesson this time!" Sailor Nina rushed over first and shouted.
Cattleya's melancholy and sadness were instantly shattered, and she frowned slightly as she said:
What did he do now?
Nina said angrily:
He asked me if I could have children; he wanted to study how life is conceived and how the soul is created!
"... Did you hit him?" Cattleya asked after a moment of silence.
"I hit her!" Nina made no attempt to hide it.
Cattleya then turned her gaze to Frank, who was standing not far away, ignoring his bruised and swollen face:
"You should study fish reproduction first."
"Alright." Frank scratched his head and obeyed the captain's order.
Cattleya then nodded to Heath Doyle, the pale-faced " Bloodless " who emerged from the shadows of the cabin:
"It's alright now."
Heath Doyle visibly relaxed:
"Yes, Captain."
After the crew's commotion, Cattleya finally returned to the real world. Taking advantage of their inattention, she rubbed her temples and flew into the captain's cabin.
Then, she sealed the place with magic and took out the " Wishing Lamp," which ranked among the top items even among level 0 Sealed Artifact.
After making the preparations, Cattleya sat down behind her desk, lowered her head, and began to recite the name of " The Fool " in Jotun, reporting to Him about the " Mystery Queen."
Klein, who was surveying the terrain around the ruins of the northern city-state with a lantern, slightly turned his head, listened for a few seconds, and then followed the procedure to enter the Gray Fog.
He immediately sat down in the high-backed chair at the very top of the weathered long table, the one belonging to " The Fool," and extended his Spirituality toward the deep red star representing " The Hermit."
"The ' Mystery Queen ' has obtained initial clues about the primitive island and plans to leave the safe shipping lanes to conduct a large-scale, long-term search..."
"That primitive island was discovered by chance by Emperor Roselle, and it may very well hold one of his nine secret mausoleums... It is the only one that has not yet been discovered or destroyed, and it is the hope for the Emperor's resurrection..."
"However, the creatures of that primeval island seem to worship an unknown power originating from the Starry Sky, Starry Sky that would be polluted simply by understanding it... I must remind the ' The Hermit ' lady to write a letter to warn the ' Mystery Queen '..."
"' Wishing Lamp '... ' Wishing Lamp '? So this '0' level Sealed Artifact is in the hands of the ' Mystery Queen '... It is formed by combining the Beyonder Characteristic of the ' Miracle Invoker ' with the characteristics of a mysterious origin, and even the True God cannot destroy it..." As soon as Klein finished hearing about "0-05", he immediately adjusted his perspective and magnified the image of the kettle-shaped golden "lamp".
Suddenly, the wick of the " Wishing Lamp " pot lit up on its own!
P. S.: Happy Lunar New Year's Day! Wishing everyone a prosperous Year of the Rat!