West District, 9 Hope Street, Prime Minister's Residence.
Agusid Negan stood behind a wide table, looking solemnly at
"Earl, my secretary should have informed you of what happened. You are the first noble I thought of at this moment."
The leader of the Conservative Party and the current Prime Minister looked several years older. His tall, thin figure seemed slightly bent forward under the weight of the tragic news, forcing him to support himself on the desk with both hands.
Yet his gaze was still sharp, and his attitude was still calm.
Earl Hall, with his neatly trimmed mustache, sighed:
"I am very sorry to hear this. It shocks me deeply. I was planning to visit His Grace in the next few days to discuss several bills we are both concerned about. Who would have thought he had been attacked..."
His handsome youth, ruined by deep wrinkles and a plump figure, first expressed his condolences, grief, and empathy, then restrained his emotions and continued:
"His Grace has passed away. Rather than weeping and anger, we need caution and calm. Only by doing this can we handle the subsequent matters properly and prevent this heavy steam train of the kingdom from derailing."
"That is exactly why I came to you first. The other nobles will only call upon the gods, tremble in fear, express their inability to accept it, and demand the immediate punishment of the murderer and the mastermind behind it. In their eyes, if a Duke under heavy protection can be assassinated, what about them?" Prime Minister Agusid said solemnly. "This is a very normal, natural, and understandable reaction, but it is not the reaction we need."
Earl Hall nodded, then asked:
"Who is the murderer? What was the motive?"
"A demon who disguised himself as a banker for over a decade. A real demon. Oh, by the way, your Bavaat Bank just acquired his business." Agusid stated flatly.
"Patrick
The acquisition deal involving the bank was exactly the one he had approved.
Prime Minister Agusid did not blame him, and said thoughtfully:
"He is Sequence 5, yet suddenly liquidated his business, abandoned the identity he had built for over a decade, and risked everything to assassinate my brother. From this, we can make a strong guess that he was instigated by a person or an organization. Unfortunately, he was killed while fleeing, and even his spirit was taken away. According to the Nighthawks' report, it was the gentleman thief 'Black Emperor'."
"It involves an extremely secretive organization, and we won't be able to figure it out in a short time?" Earl Hall questioned back.
"Yes. That so-called gentleman thief didn't leave a single trace. We can only start with those who have been in contact with Jason over the past few months. This will surely consume a lot of time, and there may not be any results." Agusid gave an affirmative answer.
Earl Hall paced a couple of steps and said:
"What is His Majesty's attitude?"
"Sorrow, but no concrete ideas." Agusid replied.
Earl Hall furrowed his brow thoughtfully and said:
"Since that's the case, what's important is no longer who the mastermind is, but what we want to achieve through this incident. If we want war, if we want to restart the colonial scramble, then tell the people that the instigator of Patrick Jason was the
"And the people are terrified of them." Prime Minister Agusid tugged at the corner of his mouth without a hint of a smile. "But we are in the middle of a series of reforms. The earliest we can stabilize the situation is the second half of next year before we have the capability to wage war."
Earl Hall pondered and said:
"Then find a target everyone can accept. The gentleman thief 'Black Emperor' is too mysterious, and the secret organization behind him is even more so. If this is announced, it will certainly cause immense panic. People are always afraid of the unknown and the unfamiliar.
"Hmm, how about the '
Agusid 'hmmed' in agreement:
"The 'Aurora Order' is a good target... "Take them as the target first. Next year, when we are fully prepared, we will release the investigation results and accuse the Feysac Empire of pulling the strings behind the 'Aurora Order'. I don't think anyone will care about the explanations of a terrorist organization and northern barbarians."
Earl Hall was stunned for a moment:
"This is a step further than my idea."
Agusid said no more, straightened up, and said:
"I will go to see His Majesty now."
Having said that, he glanced at Earl Hall:
"You must also be careful. We still haven't figured out the motive of those people for assassinating my brother. Hmph, the Church of Storms has agreed to replace the archbishop of the Backlund diocese. Snake is always late at critical moments! The followers of Storms are always so irritable, angry, stubborn, arrogant, and easily provoked!"
"Don't be prejudiced. For example, Lurmi has a lot of wisdom." Earl Hall first chuckled softly, then made the sign of the cross on his chest four times. "Thank you, the Goddess will protect me."
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