Chapter 163
Ed Rothtaylor Battle (3)
Lortel Kecheln is quick to grasp the situation.
I was able to decide on a course of action just by going around the scene, revealing my identity to the soldiers, and slipping in some money to hear about the incident and organize my thoughts.
While Lortel was riding in the carriage, it seems that Crepin, who rebelled against the imperial power, created an uproar in the Rosstaylor mansion, summoning an evil spirit, and Ed and Yenica Lucy seem to have somehow prevented the plot.
The fall of the Ross Taylor family is predestined. It seems that all the members and employees in the mansion are not doing well, and everyone holding a position in the imperial family will be kicked out.
A war of nerves will continue to occupy that space. It was obvious that those in power would work harder to put their own people in their positions, and that the dispute over imperial power between the princesses would become more intensified accordingly.
The intensifying conflict smells of money.
If you play well and create a flow, bigger money will follow.
However, this case is more special. This is because Ed Rosstaylor was among the parties involved in the incident.
“Hmm…”
To put it bluntly, Lortel, who has a strong rational crush on Ed Rothtaylor… especially when he is involved, his understanding and judgment become completely clouded.
In addition, as Ed Rothtaylor was in a position to be used for political purposes, the priority was to get him out.
With his skillful management skills, he was able to gain Sellaha’s trust and manage to get Ed into the Elte Company… but the problem was that Lortel was not the only one who had such thoughts.
“Ed was seriously injured. It’s right to recuperate at Pulan and monitor the situation. There’s no better place to treat and recuperate during vacation than there. It’s also good for avoiding pursuit.”
“Good water and good air do not heal all wounds. The high-ranking priests and treatment personnel of the Holy City are better…”
Lortel spoke while holding down his throbbing head.
“I can do everything, including providing shelter in a place with good water and air, and preparing competent medical staff. The problem is discussing how to live in the future.”
Lortel stood close to Jenica and Clarice and spoke in a low voice.
“Is it possible to coordinate the conflict between political battles and continue to protect Senior Ed’s safety?”
Clarice and Jenica were speechless at those words.
Lortel is good at managing things.
Living on the commercial front, I have a keen sense of assessing and coordinating the interests between people. This is an ability that Yenica and Clarice do not have.
In the name of managing Ed, Elte Company could take him in and steal him from place to place, distracting from the sluggish work and buying time to find another solution.
Once Ed’s new recruits were in the hands of the Elte Company, they were ready to come up with all kinds of excuses to not give Ed’s new recruits to the imperial family.
“Senior Ed, I will take you to the Old Deck. Because it is the safest.”
In the meantime, once he receives treatment at a commercial facility and recovers his health, it is up to Ed to decide.
“But once the imperial family decides to do something, there is no way to respond.”
It was Clarice who struck out there.
“I recognize the information power and management skills of the Elte Company, but in essence, it is all just a trick. If you press them with the power of power and just blindly hand over senior Ed without any logic… the Elte Company is at odds with the imperial family even then. Can you set up a company? Even though you are making a living through the empire’s distribution network?”
“…It is Elte Company’s way to prevent such situations from occurring.”
“If you’re the size of a Seonghwangdo, you can confront them head-on.”
Jenica and Lortel were speechless at those words.
In order not to give up Ed, Saint Clarisse is even willing to endure a situation where things develop into a conflict between the Saint Emperor and the imperial family.
There is no way the entire city of Seonghwang would step forward to save a man’s life. Most likely, another justification is needed.
“Senior Ed, you have to go to the Holy City to be tried by the Holy Law. You hurt me.”
That was the cause that Saint Clarice found.
Ed Rothtaylor is a believer who was baptized into the Telos Church during his coming of age ceremony. Because the believer directly injured the saint, she became a lamb to be judged according to the holy law.
The right to a trial under the Holy Law belongs solely to the Holy Emperor. Before handing a sinner over to a foreign country, he or she has the authority to govern the sinner through sacred law.
Of course, since the saint is on Ed’s side, there is no way the punishment will be that severe. In the first place, it is unclear whether the saintess was injured because she simply tripped and fell, or whether she was really injured because of Ed’s mistake.
We just need a justification for a legal trial. For now, just keep Ed in custody in the name of that, and when things calm down, you can get him a not guilty verdict and that’s it.
“The distance between the Holy Imperial Capital and the Cloel Imperial Family is really long. What do you plan to do if the Holy Imperial Capital tries to protect senior Ed at your discretion, but is unable to access the various information needed to reorganize the imperial family or conduct business?”
“…yes?”
“Physical safety is important right now, but it is also important how to overcome the problem and turn the situation to your advantage. So it is right that senior Ed is protected by Elte Company.”
You can’t beat Lortel with logic.
It is unclear whether Ed will be protected at the level of the Holy Emperor, and even if so, Ed will end up as a duck egg if he gets mixed up in the war of nerves between the Holy Emperor and the imperial family. That’s not a very good situation either.
“It’s good to want to protect Ed, but does that have to be done while securing Ed’s recruits?”
Yenika doesn’t sit still either.
“If the problem is being used by high-ranking people, shouldn’t we first go where there are no high-ranking people…?”
Although she was speaking in a general way, Yenica’s words were clearly penetrating her blind spot.
No matter where it was, the focus had to be on getting Ed out of the quagmire of political strife.
“I am confident that if I decide to run away, I will never be caught. Unlike Lortel and the saint, I am not tied down to anything.”
Yenika already looks very tired, but if she wants to, she is ready to take Ed and run away even to the end of the map.
“It’s safest to resolve the matter by fighting or appeasing while I run away with Ed.”
Whether things develop due to a fight between the church authority and the imperial power, or whether Princess Selaha is eaten by a mysterious way of dealing.
In the end, it’s all up to Clarice and Lortel to do it… There’s no reason to take Ed with them directly.
However, there is no way the other two people could understand that fact. If Ed does not immediately secure his own safety, follow-up measures cannot proceed smoothly.
In the end, it is a structure that is bound to cause a war of nerves over who takes Ed.
It’s a very cute and heartwarming reason to protect Ed Ross Taylor’s safety… but looking at the situation alone, it couldn’t be more bloody than this.
Yenica Palover, a spirit summoner who can even reach the realm of the highest spirits if she grits her teeth and pushes too hard.
Lortel Kecheln is a very wealthy man who can buy an entire sailing ship with just the money in his wallet if he wants to.
Saint Clarice is revered as the most sacred and noble being in the Telos Church, the continent’s greatest religious order.
The confrontation between the three of them caused even the soldiers standing far away to swallow dry saliva.
Although it is difficult to hear the conversation, it appears that they are discussing a very important political issue.
If you listen to the reality, it is nothing more than a war of nerves over who will take Ed Ross Taylor.
He’s just looking for justification for taking Ed away, offering up various plausible justifications.
These are people who, if their cause does not work until the end, will go to great lengths to take them away. If you look at it from a distance, it is a sight that will make your shoulders sink.
However, it is a problem that cannot be easily seen by Ed Rothtaylor himself.
Do you go to Pulan, to Shenghuangdo, or to Oldek?
Depending on Ed’s destination, there is a clear difference in what stance he will take in the war of nerves with the imperial family.
Those who run away, those who oppose, those who use. They are all options with pros and cons, and it can be said that whoever you choose will be an understandable choice.
However, for the three girls, it is not simply a matter of Ed’s behavior.
If it comes down to the question of whether to follow Jenica, Clarisse, or Lortel… Ed ends up choosing someone.
If Ed regained consciousness even a little and declared who he would follow… at that point, an atmosphere was created where the other two felt like they would feel a great sense of defeat.
As I say repeatedly, this is just a story about Ed’s escape route.
It was the three girls who began to give meaning to it on their own terms. This was the result of trying to create a justification to somehow get Ed to come over to him, but the atmosphere ended up being overheated. It’s like being self-employed.
“The imperial army will arrive soon and will begin walking around the half-destroyed buildings to assess the situation. The imperial army is very large and well-trained, so they will finish the job quickly.”
There will also be personnel involved to clean up the scene and retrieve the bodies. Of course, the personnel to take Ed will arrive as well.
If that happens anyway, Ed will naturally move to Elte Trading Company. Lortel had planned the situation that way.
– Less evil! Less evil!
At that moment, the sound of soldiers guarding the garden steadily shaking their ceremonial spears was heard. It means that a distinguished guest has arrived.
It was a place full of VIPs from the beginning. Taking this into account, it means that the soldiers who did not perform the rituals were noble enough to raise their spears.
The person who came in past the garden entrance was… Selaha, the Princess of Frost.
“There you are, Ed Rosstaylor.”
He was accompanied by all kinds of nobles.
The angry nobles were screaming that the Rosstaylor family should be stopped. Selaha walked forward with his back to them and looked at the girls.
The reason she doesn’t even say hello is because her only interest is Ed Rothtaylor, who is leaning against a tree.
The boy with his eyes closed, leaning against tiny Lucy, seemed to Princess Selaha to be the key to reorganizing the entire power structure.
It is obvious that if left alive, it will serve as an opportunity to unite the remaining forces of Ross Taylor.
Yenika’s hand holding the staff was tense. If he wanted to do anything, he was ready to call Tarkan right now and run away with Ed.
However, it was not Yenika who stopped Princess Selaha.
– Huge boom!
A blade of wind rose from the sky and split between Selaha and Ed.
The wind blade that left a trace on the floor scattered into the air and disappeared, leaving only its aftereffects to distract the heads of people around it.
After a puff of dust rises, a girl is seen blocking Ed’s path.
There was a lot of dust all over his body, and his always elegant hair was unkempt. His clothes are so dirty that he cannot be considered a nobleman.
The girl – Tanya Rosstaylor, stood between Selaha and Ed and looked up at Selaha.
“do not touch.”
Hwang’s name was rejected.
These were words that were difficult to come out of the mouth of Tanya, who had always lived in submission to authority.
Jenica Lortel Clarisse was thinking of stealing Ed away in some way. Because there was another possible destination.
Those who have alternatives try to steer the situation in as positive a direction as possible.
But Tanya is completely different.
Tanya was a girl who lived in the Ross Taylor Mansion as her home and only looked at the glory of the Ross Taylor family.
I have lost a lot, I have been used as I should, and there is nothing left in my clenched fist.
The girl’s eyes are filled with angry nobles. The damage caused by the plan led by Crepin. He asks Tanya for compensation.
You have lived like a king in the name of Ross Taylor, and now it is time to pay the price.
With such ridiculous logic, he raised his voice at Tanya, who finally appeared on the scene.
Tanya, who was blocking Ed with her arms outstretched… slowly opened her mouth and spoke.
“To me… he is the last remaining… person who can be said to be a close relative.”
Arwen was lost, the family’s honor was lost, and all of their belongings were burned to the ground.
There is nothing left for her to resist, with her arms open to the world.
It’s not much different from Ed sitting alone on a rock in the northern forest of Aken Island and starting to build a wooden shelter.
I imagine my brother gritting his teeth and creating a new home even though he had no reason to live.
It was only then that Tanya, who had entered the beginning, understood how long a journey it had been.
But Tanya’s situation was a little better than Ed’s.
The vast mansion and the sky-high family power have disappeared like sand castles… but Tanya’s blood relatives remain.
The boy leaning against the zelkova tree with his eyes closed is now Tanya’s last remaining asset.
That’s why Tanya didn’t run away or hide, but instead came out to the front of the central garden.
“Tanya Rosstaylor. And Ed Rosstaylor.”
Selaha and the nobles all held their breath at the sight of Tanya. The elegant and noble appearance as usual is nowhere to be seen.
Only Selaha, who softly called Tanya’s name, narrowed her brows.
“You are the siblings who have inherited Rosstaylor’s blood the most. You guys… should accompany us to the imperial palace to hear the circumstances.”
A political battle is ultimately just a fight for a cause.
The justification given by Selaha was to listen to the circumstances in order to properly understand this incident. In fact, things like hearing the circumstances can be conducted on site without having to go to the imperial palace.
There seems to be a different reason for anyone to accompany him to the imperial palace. Tanya also felt that ominous feeling and her shoulders trembled, but she did not spread her arms wide and release the force she was blocking.
Selaha took a deep breath and looked around.
Numerous people are spread out around Ed.
Lucy is sleeping on his shoulder and Tanya is blocking him.
And around them are Jenica and Clarisse, the saints of Lortel.
It felt like all kinds of VIPs were gathered in one place to make a decision about Ed’s future treatment.
Selaha planned to conclude everything before Ed came to his senses.
Lortel said that Ed Rosstaylor was a truly clever and capable man. He said there was absolutely no benefit to keeping him alive.
Selaha agrees with that opinion to some extent, so she was planning to follow that opinion, but…
“Haam.”
As if I had come to end this nervous war that felt like walking on thin ice… I heard a small yawn.
The person who stood up and rubbed her eyes as if asking why it was so loud was… Lucy Mayril.
The strength of the girl who pushed Ed’s shoulder, got up, and staggered forward… everyone here knows.
“what.”
He spoke in an easy-going tone as if looking at the people gathered around him.
“Why is the atmosphere like this?”
It feels like the atmosphere has completely changed since the girl’s spirit. Selaha felt a strange sense of discomfort, but it did not stop her actions.
“I command everyone to stay away from Ed Rosstaylor…”
– Poof.
However, a staff came down diagonally and blocked Selaha’s movements.
The sight of Yenika, who was standing nearby, pulling out her staff and blocking the movement, seemed to be blocking Selaha.
Selaha narrowed her eyes and looked at the surrounding atmosphere. There were a lot of angry nobles in the background, but the scenery ahead was calm and quiet.
From now on… the road to Ed Rosstaylor is unfolding.
He is unconscious, lying against a zelkova tree in the central garden.
However, there are more than one person blocking the path ahead.
Yenica Palover holding a cane larger than her body at an angle; Lortel wearing a robe with an unknown expression, even though she is clearly on Selaha’s side; Clarisse coldly looking up at Selaha while holding the dance of her skirt. Tanya, who was shaking but did not get out of the way, and even Lucy, who glared at Selaha while rolling her eyes.
It was a road that could just be passed on foot, but a strangely cold and creepy look appeared among the girls… Selaha swallowed dry saliva.
Each method is different, but ultimately the goal is the same.
The moment he approaches Ed Ross-Taylor, the atmosphere seems to change completely, and the feeling of walking on thin ice sends a chill down Selaha’s spine.
There is a Pandora’s box in the world that should not be opened.
You don’t know if it’s a treasure chest or a Pandora’s box until you open it. However, intuition sometimes magically hints at its contents.
Ed Rosstaylor is lying still, unconscious, leaning against a zelkova tree.
Although he has a calm expression without even the slightest movement, the people standing around him all have cool expressions.
Clearly, if you want to secure Ed Rosstaylor’s identity, now that he is unconscious is the perfect opportunity.
However, Selaha unconsciously swallowed dry saliva.
I had heard that the group was acquainted with Ed Ross-Taylor, but I did not expect the atmosphere to be like this.
It’s been almost ten years since I felt tension.