Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 232 The Vanished Palace Steward
After wandering around the back mountain of the silver mine for many days, Blackfish finally saw the sneaky figures. There were five of them in total, each carrying a wooden stick and a bag on their back, dressed like ordinary civilians.

Blackfish lay hidden behind a rock, draped in a tattered gray cloak, blending in seamlessly with the surrounding rocks from a distance. He silently followed the five men as they walked away, leaving the mountains along a rugged path.

Upon entering the plains, the five bought a carriage and headed southeast along the main road. Blackfish, despite his exhaustion, continued to follow them, maintaining a distance during the day and sneaking towards their campsite at night in an attempt to eavesdrop on their conversation.

The problem was that these people spoke a local dialect, which, although Anglo-Saxon, was very difficult for Blackfish, a northern Anglo. Furthermore, they spoke in deliberately low voices, so Blackfish only caught a few seemingly useful snippets.

"The cabinet is auditing the accounts. Our good days are over. Let's escape before they notice anything amiss."

"It's all Fatty's fault! He ran away without a word, without even telling us."

Eavesdropping on their conversation, Blackfish became very interested in the "fat man" they were talking about and tiptoed closer to the campfire.

The sound of a dry branch snapping underfoot interrupted the conversation. The five people sitting around the campfire immediately became alert. Some drew their daggers, while others took out a hunting bow and aimed at the approximate location of the eavesdropper.

"Don't run!"

Following the footsteps for a long time, they found no eavesdropper, only a small amount of blood on the ground, perhaps human blood, perhaps the blood of a wild deer.

"Stop chasing, retreat."

Fearing that the silver near the campfire would be picked up by refugees, the five abandoned the chase, packed their belongings, and fled far away overnight.

I do not know how long it has been.

Blackfish opened his eyes and found himself lying on the carriage. A sharp pain shot through his back. He instinctively reached out to touch it, but someone grabbed his wrist.

"Don't touch it, it can easily cause infection of the wound."

Blackfish raised his head and looked with difficulty at the chainmail knight beside the carriage and the surrounding caravan. The lead carriage had an unfamiliar flag with a blue background and a black castle painted in the center.

"noble?"

The chainmail knight replied, “Yes, my master is the lord of Bournemouth (the Shrike), and he is accompanied by the lord of Copton (Torga). We are traveling together to our southern fiefdom.” The knight pointed to a flag on another wagon, with a shamrock in the center.

Upon learning the convoy's identity, Blackfish immediately perked up, introducing himself as an agent from County Rendynewme who needed the assistance of the two noble gentlemen.

"I hope you're not joking."

The knight gripped the horse's flanks tightly and quickly rode to the front of the caravan, bringing with him two high-ranking nobles a moment later.

One of them said, "I'm Shrike, Agent. Do you need something from us?"

Blackfish omitted some details, but roughly explained his mission and requested the nobles to send someone to assist in the investigation.

The shrike politely declined, saying, "We found you yesterday morning, and it's already noon the next day. Those murderers have long since disappeared. Besides, the route is full of refugees and bandits. We must prioritize the safety of the caravan."

When Yoren's moving caravan encountered the Black Flag Brotherhood, although they escaped unharmed, it still made his colleagues more vigilant. They had earned their fortune through battles, and it would be too frustrating to die at the hands of bandits.

At this moment, Torga, standing nearby, noticed something amiss. "You claim to be an agent from County London, so why did you travel alone to Nottingham? Who are your superiors—the Inspector, the Superintendent, and the Senior Inspector?"

Left with no other choice, Blackfish revealed his identity and the information he had deduced, instantly causing the two men's expressions to change. After discussing for half a minute, they suggested sending a rider back to Rendinium to report the news, stating that they were not in a position to get involved in the subsequent matters.

"Alright, thank you for your help, gentlemen."

Due to excessive blood loss, the blackfish became weak and soon fell into a deep sleep again.

In early March, Blackfish returned to Rendynewme and, lying on his sickbed, reported the mission's progress to his colleagues in the Inspectorate and Analysis Department.

Halfway through the conversation, the inspector frowned. "You keep mentioning the word 'fat man,' do you suspect this matter is related to the former chief steward?"

Despite being missing for six months, Paffees' name remained active in civil servants' reports.

For example, when the foundation of a tower in the walls of Rendineum became loose, the person in charge blamed Paffeus, accusing him of embezzling construction funds. Similarly, when the old royal estates scattered throughout the country submitted their accounts, they attributed the deficits to the court steward.
In short, due to his terrible reputation, the missing Parfums became everyone's scapegoat, and everything could be blamed on him. Therefore, Blackfish found it difficult to convince his superiors and colleagues in the analysis department.

"Did the civil servants find any other clues while checking the accounts in the mining area?"

The inspector glanced at the lawn outside the window and casually remarked, "No, the mine manager and his cronies absconded with the funds. The remaining miners know very little. The cabinet has concluded that it was embezzlement and has already submitted a report to His Majesty."

With the change of monarchy, many things were a mess. The inspector sighed and advised the detective to rest and recover in the hospital. He gave the performance evaluation for this mission a "good" rating and told him to return to work after he was fully recovered.

The intelligence report was delivered to Viggo's desk. He skimmed through it and found it largely consistent with the cabinet's conclusions. An additional note at the end of the report stated that the "fat man" mentioned by the fugitive was suspected to be connected to Paffees.

"Suspicious?"

Vig had seen the name of the former chief steward in his reports countless times; the man had become the perfect scapegoat and excuse for settling scores.

Before he could even complain, his aide-de-camp, Seibert, brought in another stack of documents. Vig made a few notes at the end of the report, assigning the cabinet's Minister of Industry, Lucar, to handle the follow-up matters.

He thought to himself, "If the three silver mines hand over 700 kilograms of silver ingots by the end of this year, then the past will be over. England's silver reserves are limited, so we still need to make money from other sources."

In last year's war, the entire southern part of Britain was devastated, and Londenewm, Cambridge, and Tamworth were unable to contribute much tax revenue.

Agriculture Minister Kemi Wildfire suggested promoting clover and turnips in the south, but the results are slow and cannot solve the current financial crisis.

In the commercial sphere, after Ragnar's second invasion of West Frankish, relations between the Vikings and Franks broke down, trade volume plummeted, and customs revenues in Dover and Southampton declined accordingly.

In order to amass wealth quickly, Vig took out a parchment scroll that he had kept for many years, which was a sketch of the spinning jenny.

He had considered this groundbreaking invention as early as when Tyne Town was first established, but because the profits were too high and beyond his control, it has been shelved until now.

In addition, he also had the idea of ​​producing spirits. Distillation technology had existed for a long time, but distilled spirits were not yet popular in Europe. "It's time to make a fortune."

(End of this chapter)