Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 94: Reporting and Framing

Donnie, the affairs officer of the Jackdaw Town Federation branch, received a letter from the postman.

"Why is it him again?" Donnie scratched his sparsely haired head in annoyance. "Didn't he move out of Jackdaw Town?"

The news that the necromancer Harvey obtained the pioneering order from the Earl of Grizzli Castle and moved out of Jackdaw Town to open up the northern wilderness had already spread throughout the small circle of spellcasters in Grizzli Territory.

Most spellcasters who disliked the Necromancer in the first place responded to his behavior with ruthless ridicule. A junior wizard did not devote himself to the study of spells and improve his magic level.

He even had the crazy idea of applying for a pioneering order and running to the dangerous northern wilderness, just to satisfy his desire to be a feudal noble.

This extremely stupid behavior is unheard of in the world of spellcasters.

In fact, Donnie is not the old-school spellcaster who discriminates against necromancers. When Harvey was framed by Burko and attacked by the church witch hunters, he even felt a little sympathy for him.

Of course, the Federation's handling of the incident was relatively fair in the end. Although Burko was cleared of the charge of colluding with the church to attack his colleagues during the headquarters' investigation, he was forced to resign and was sent back to his hometown of Grizzlie Castle to remain unemployed.

The church had no choice but to accept the loss. Not only did it publicly apologize to the Federation, it also conducted a thorough review and rotation of the old staff of the church branch in Jackdaw Town, replacing them all with new faces.

Finally, the angry spellcasters breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Harvey, who was the direct victim in this incident, received almost no compensation. He only received an apology letter jointly signed by the Federation and the Church.

Donnie felt a little sorry for the other party, but then he thought of his identity as a necromancer and could only sigh.

After carefully reading the contents of the letter sent by Harvey this time, Donnie couldn't help but gasp.

"This Mage Harvey is always making a big mess..."

This was a letter of complaint, and the target of the complaint was actually the lord of Grizzly Castle, Earl Fagan himself.

The letter sharply described how Earl Fagan, after issuing a pioneering order to Harvey, went back on his word and violated the duchy's fiefdom laws, temporarily levying a huge fiefdom tax on him.

After Harvey honestly paid this unreasonable tax, they suddenly attacked and slandered him for conducting forbidden magic experiments in his fiefdom, and sent elite knights and hundreds of mercenaries to attack Harvey's territory.

All of the above unreasonable actions and groundless accusations against Harvey, the spellcaster, were not reported to the Federation in advance, nor was any investigation request filed. Instead, Earl Fagan directly used force on his own initiative.

Along with the letter was a magic stone with a photographic record, which clearly recorded the entire process of how Earl Fagan's family knights negotiated taxes with the militia of Harvey's territory, and how they suddenly made groundless accusations and directly launched an armed attack.

The image content in the sound-recording magic stone cannot be tampered with.

This is simply irrefutable evidence!

"Is Earl Fagan crazy?" Donnie stood up from his desk decisively, walked out of the office quickly, and called out to a clerk in charge of spell messengers, "Immediately copy the contents of this letter, attach this magic stone, and send it to the headquarters in Daes. Don't delay for a moment!"

Internal factional struggles and conflicts among spellcasters are common.

But the Federation will never allow any nobles to easily challenge their class status in the Southern Continent!

……

At nightfall, the Earl of Fagan's mansion in Grizzli Castle was ablaze with lights and bustling with activity. A throng of richly dressed nobles, both large and small, danced gracefully in the vast banquet hall, while a band, hired at great expense from the capital, played at full throttle. Only those nobles of Grizzli Castle, both prestigious and well-connected, were able to attend. It was said that the Countess greatly enjoyed hosting concert-style dinners and sent out invitations nearly every week.

In such a grand occasion, Earl Fagan, the focus and host of the banquet, was surprisingly absent tonight.

However, the Earl was not ill or delayed by government affairs. At this moment, he was in his private study upstairs in the banquet hall with several close officials, holding a letter and furious.

Attached to the letter was a blood-stained fragment of breastplate. The earl's family emblem engraved on it was directly destroyed by a hole that went through the armor, making the entire carefully crafted armor lose its original beauty.

Bang! Earl Fagan slammed his fist against the desk, his teeth chattering. With his sturdy and tall stature and slightly curly black hair, he looked like a grizzly bear in a rage.

"Stewi is dead! This damned necromancer actually killed a noble knight with a title!"

There has always been an unwritten convention in power struggles among nobles. No matter which side wins, they cannot kill everyone. This is a matter of family honor and dignity.

Whether they laid down their weapons and surrendered voluntarily, or fought to the end and were unfortunately captured, they should be given the preferential treatment due to the nobles and wait for the other family to raise the ransom or exchange hostages.

The clerk beside him took the thin letter from the earl's generous hand, glanced at the entire letter, and said with fear on his face, "Sir, from the contents of the letter, it seems that the Baron suddenly launched an attack after the other party had paid the full tax. He... he also publicly claimed that he was carrying your order, accusing the other party of conducting bloody experiments and harming civilians..."

Earl Fagan gnashed his teeth and said, "You brainless bastard! You think you have a sure win, and you're using my name to mess with them without a care in the world, causing me such a huge mess!"

Earl Feigen knew very well that he had indeed initiated this matter, and it was because of the gossip that spread among the nobles that aroused a strong greed in him.

But now this plan of attacking in the name of taxation has completely failed, and the other party also has irrefutable evidence accusing him of violating the laws of the principality and provoking war without reason.

"If he reports this directly to the Federation..."

"I'm afraid that within three days, Grizzli Castle will be visited by battle mages and magical affairs investigators."

Perhaps the royal capital will also be directly pressured by the Federation, and at that time it will definitely have no choice but to use itself as a sacrifice and bear the wrath of the Federation.

A gray-haired old man in the study who had been silent all this time suddenly coughed lightly. Earl Feigen immediately turned to look at him and asked with a hint of hope in his tone, "Master Angel, what are your thoughts on how this matter should be handled?"

This old man, whom Count Feigen called Master, was a spellcaster consultant that his family had always employed. He was not directly affiliated with the Federation, but came from a prestigious spellcaster family in Daeus.

Angel coughed lightly and said calmly, "Since the late Lord Stewie claimed that this necromancer had murdered civilians, then why don't we just prove this crime..."

"Anyway, the reputation of necromancers has never been very good within the Union. I just happened to learn a few days ago that this Mage Harvey is not the first time to be suspected and investigated like this."

He slowly walked to the window and pondered for a while before continuing, "Because of the previous investigation, he had a bad relationship with Mr. Burko, who was in charge of the case review at the time. Mr. Burko even lost his position in the Federation because of this incident. Now he is staying at home in Grizzlie Castle with nothing to do..."

"An investigation and conviction without evidence is indeed a false accusation, but if the evidence is irrefutable... then the crime is well deserved."

Count Feigen instantly understood the implications of Angel's words and waved his hand to instruct the clerk.

"Invite Mr. Burke immediately to the Count's house as his guest!"

(End of this chapter)