Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 455: Settlement and Blame

"So... the Glorious Archbishop of Saint Valen is suspected of murdering the Grand Duke, persecuting spellcasters, spreading the plague and framing others... and instigating civil unrest in the central southern kingdoms?"

Harvey's eyes were filled with a sarcastic smile as he repeated the words of the Earl of the Palace and the Chief Knight in a sarcastic tone.

None of the dignitaries in the capital objected, and they all nodded in agreement.

It seems that they are planning to completely put the blame on the church, which inevitably gives people a sense of the comical change of fortunes - more than a year ago, those who were nailed to the pillar of shame for persecuting civilians and betraying the covenant were the spellcasters who had long been expelled and persecuted.

Not satisfied with this, the Count of the Palace added, adding, "His Majesty the Grand Duke personally dissuaded him... but he was assassinated in the end. This is simply an unforgivable crime."

"Oh? Really?" Harvey sneered. "Did the Glorious Archbishop receive instructions from the Vatican, or did he act on his own? It's impossible that he was just confused for a moment, right? When they committed these crimes, some of you stood by and watched, some of you aided and abetted them, but not a single one of you stood up to stop or oppose them!"

Dickinson frowned and bowed, saying, "Your Excellency, the City Lord, you may not know that after the Archduke was seriously injured and fell into a coma, the Bishop indirectly took control of the Royal Court, promoting those who were his confidants to the positions of Prime Minister and Minister of State. Even my position... my position as Commander of the Royal Capital Knights was taken away on the pretext of this... and replaced with someone from the Church."

This part of the content is actually true. After the church seized control of the most powerful armed force in the royal capital, not only did it not use it to guard the safety of the royal city, but it sent it all to the border battlefield, causing these elite knights of the principality to fight bloody battles for the conflicting interests of the church and the federation, wasting their precious lives in vain.

This also indirectly led to the fact that when Harvey led his army to the royal capital, Dickinson, the Grand Duke's chief knight, had no one at his disposal, and even the dispatch of the royal guards required the Prime Minister's approval.

"You got rid of everything in just a few words." Harvey shook his head in disappointment. He had no hope for the group of nobles in front of him. They were just vested interests who were only calculating for themselves. They were blood-sucking parasites that depended on the royal family and the capital. They were completely hypocritical, decadent, greedy and shameless.

"I believe you are all well aware that Grand Duke Saint Valen is beyond saving... My spellcasting advisors and alchemists have all taken turns checking on him. He was given a large amount of secret medicine of unknown ingredients by the church, and his body has weakened to the point where he can only survive by relying on high-level divine arts."

The chief knight's eyes turned red, and he knelt on one knee with his head down and remained silent... The other nobles exchanged silent glances with each other, without making any expression, as if the dying king was not the one they had sworn allegiance to.

Only the Earl of the Palace took the initiative to speak up. "Your Excellency, once the Grand Duke passes away... the vacant throne of Saint Valen will inevitably attract the attention of the surrounding nations. With all due respect, as the most powerful lord of the Duchy, you should comply..."

As soon as he said this, the other nobles immediately reacted - what a guy! He wanted to grab the credit for being the first among the powerful nobles in the capital to support the new king!
"That's right! Your Excellency, the Duchy cannot be without a ruler to stabilize the situation. We also need a wise monarch to end the long-running border war!"

"Indeed, the lords of various lands who were summoned to the border battlefields have long been suffering and secretly dissatisfied with the church's wanton consumption of their troops!"

"City Lord... No! Your Majesty! Your Majesty... I beg you to take the throne of Grand Duke Saint Valen immediately as a border lord!"

The Grand Duke of Saint Valen had just turned thirty, and the queen had passed away due to illness at an early age... Apart from the rumors of his illegitimate son, which were half true and half false, there was indeed no successor - his uncle, the Count of the Palace, had the legal right to succeed to the throne, but this status made him feel very uncomfortable, otherwise he would not have completely disregarded the face of the royal family and been the first to jump out to support the new king.

Harvey waved his hand to silence them, sneering, "Now is not the time to discuss these issues... You may not know, but when I select talents and officials under my command, I prefer to follow the principle of survival of the fittest." The Finance Minister wiped the greasy sweat from his face and trembled, "Your Majesty... What does the 'survival of the fittest' mean?"

"Public trial, hanging, execution, forced labor..." Harvey took a thick stack of paper from the guards behind him and wrote casually, "Everything will be judged according to the laws and regulations of our Spark City. It will be fair and just."

Before the panicked nobles could react, he flipped to the first page and recited aloud, "Baron Elliot, the Royal Court's chief steward, forcibly conscripted civilians and sent them to the border for the Church, imposed high taxes on the areas surrounding the capital, and allowed his Royal Guards to wantonly extort and plunder passing caravans under the guise of hunting patrols..."

Harvey enumerated every detail of the crime one by one, speaking at a faster pace and reading for two and a half pages before he finished.

Baron Elliot knelt on the ground in panic, "No! Your Majesty! No... I am completely unaware of most of this. It has nothing to do with me."

Harvey glanced down at the intelligence stamp on the end of his credentials and chuckled, "You should all be well aware that since I have the means to collect evidence of your crimes, I also have the means to verify the authenticity of any of it... Simply complaining and complaining is useless."

As soon as he finished speaking, two Northern Army soldiers walked up expressionlessly and dragged Baron Elliot, who was lying limp on the ground, away... What was waiting for him was probably one of the four elimination options that Harvey had just mentioned.

Harvey curled his lips and continued flipping through the documents in his hand. "Wow! The next one is a heavyweight... Deputy Prime Minister Sir Reynolds. When the plague broke out, you worked very hard with the Vatican to capture spellcasters and alchemists!"

Sir Reynolds was stubborn and said with a stiff face: "Your Excellency, this fabricated accusation is simply a farce! I will never accept this unfounded accusation. Please excuse me while I leave first..."

Before he could turn around, two icy-cold gun barrels suddenly thrust against his waist, instantly immobilizing him. Harvey spread his hands and laughed, "What? Are you trying to force me to [eliminate] you right here and now?"

He looked around at everyone and said contemptuously, "Or are you all unwilling to confess your guilt? Then I don't need to go through all this boring formality anymore. I'll just shoot you all!"

The dignitaries all opened their eyes wide and took a few steps back in horror. Some even stumbled and fell directly to the ground, struggling for a long time but unable to get up.

The Northern Army soldiers surrounding the ruins of the council hall raised their guns in unison, pointing their gleaming muzzles directly at the group of panicked nobles.

"Calm down! Please don't shoot! Your Majesty!" The Earl of the Palace waved his hands repeatedly, no longer caring about his noble status and kneeling on the ground. "I am willing to accept the accusation. I have not committed any unforgivable crime!"

Chief Knight Dickinson, who had remained silent the entire time, stood up, straightened his back, and said fearlessly, "Lord, may I ask... what is the accusation against me?"

Harvey tutted his words and casually flipped through the documents in his hand. After a moment, he looked up with a look of surprise. "Haha, Chief Knight Baron Dickinson, former commander of the Royal Capital Knights... I never thought that in this rotten mess in the Royal Capital, there would still be a decent guy like you..."

(End of this chapter)