Chapter 1039 Scare Yourself
“…Not dead yet.”
Old Argon repeated Sherlock's conclusion: "So that's it..."
He exhaled slowly, his fists clenched and then gradually unclenched. It was as if he had finally let go of some worry or doubt, or as if he had anticipated this... or perhaps felt a little regretful.
——Obviously, this was not the answer the old duke expected, nor the one he feared.
"If I'm not mistaken," Sherlock looked at Argon, his words sharp and merciless, "the answer you want... should be to find the organization to which the person behind the scenes belongs.
"Whether it's a conspiracy by the Hawkeye Organization or the manipulation of a certain Grand Duke besides you... I think directly stating a person's name might be more in line with your needs."
Hearing this, Aiwass was stunned for a moment, then raised his head and looked at the old duke.
He was the first to understand the hidden meaning in Sherlock's words.
The old duke "invited" Sherlock here, I'm afraid... it's not just about getting an answer.
- In other words, his need is not just to "know the truth", and the motivation that drives him to do such a dangerous thing is definitely not curiosity.
"...What do you mean, father?"
Anne keenly sensed the sudden change in the atmosphere and looked up in confusion.
Yasen opened his mouth, but closed it again tactfully.
As a son-in-law, he decided to give his father-in-law some face. After all, there was a big shot present here that even his "expensive father" couldn't afford to offend, so it wasn't his turn to say such things.
Aiwass said softly, "It's very simple. If there's someone behind this, and this person has gained sufficient benefits from it... then after Sherlock sees through the truth and pulls this person out... can we be sure that the 'Third Rebellion' itself is a conspiracy?"
“People were exploited by the mastermind, which led to the end of the Iris Dynasty. And after the monarch left Iris, people’s lives did not get much better.
"Although the nobles' fiefs were taken back by the state, they were bought back by those nobles and wealthy merchants; although they no longer had private soldiers, they now had 'long-term mercenaries' from security companies; although the inherited noble titles no longer existed, the status of parliamentarians was still passed down from generation to generation.
"The people of Iris no longer have nobles, but the power of the mayor and mayor has been expanded. Even when people see the three grand dukes, they still have to salute them respectfully."
"--Perhaps the only difference is that in the past, the rich always had to be humble to the nobles, but now they are doing much better than the old nobility."
Aiwass sighed and began to tell Anne the essence of the matter from the beginning.
What Iris went through during the Third Rebellion wasn’t fundamentally different from what Lloyd’s did at Avalon last year.
This was actually a necessary step. In the past, high-end technology was essentially monopolized by alchemists and mages, and the only roles ordinary people could play were farming, animal husbandry, fishing, forestry, and hunting, all of which required the permission of the lord.
However, with the development of industrialization, the value generated by factories gradually began to surpass that of the former. As a result, the status of workers gradually surpassed that of farmers, herders, fishermen, hunters, and so on. Factory owners, who controlled the machinery, gradually began to clash with the nobles, who controlled the land—after all, the population was limited; more here meant less there. But by this point, the nobles had a fundamental advantage over the factory owners.
Until after a certain critical point... suddenly there are more things that money can buy, and the nature suddenly changes.
Although the nobles would suppress the factory owners, they basically did not dare to eliminate them directly because they also wanted to use cheaper and more reliable industrial products, rather than importing those obsolete alchemical products that were not so advanced but very expensive from foreign countries at high prices, and then buy some second-hand garbage at the price of gold; but on the other hand, the factory owners could unscrupulously and even impatiently manipulate and even eliminate all the nobles.
Looking back, how did the knight class of Avalon come to be controlled by Lloyd's, a powerless merchant association? They could have gained the current benefits without any risk by simply uniting and controlling these merchants through violence.
The reason is simple, because these knights are wary of and opposed to each other, and the profits brought by the merchants are not enough to feed everyone.
Just as the Knights of the Round Table would argue in the Hall of the Round Table, discussing every proposal and deciding whether it could be passed based on their own standpoints, it was impossible for these knights to reach the same conclusion on everything, so they would always have opposition and hostility. Because of this opposition, the knights were actually unaware of how many others had been manipulated, and they dared not express their intention to "not cooperate."
Of course, they could easily control these merchants with violence - only five arbitrators were needed to kill Lloyd's without any casualties.
But the question is what happens after that? How do they distribute it?
If the merchant's offering is divided equally, no one will have enough to eat; but if it is provided to only a small number of people, who can be sure that they will not be excluded from the group? If the five of them keep it all, will the other knights unite and kill them?
Everyone had been poor before, and no one wanted to return to those hard times. If the sponsorship were cut off, no one would be able to survive. Obviously, there was another way to ensure everyone had enough to eat—reducing the number of "high-level officials" who shared the profits to a sufficiently small number.
Therefore, the powerful knights were controlled by the weak merchants. In fact, the problem did not lie with the merchants, but with the knights themselves. These corrupted knights did not fear the merchants, but other knights - their equally corrupted colleagues.
The same problem faced by the nobles of Iris is also true.
The First and Second Rebellions were complete failures, because in this world where supernatural powers are monopolized through knowledge, it is difficult for even the pure, impoverished common people to produce supernatural beings.
They couldn't obtain the secret text to start their own inheritance, nor could they learn the complete theoretical system from specialized teaching institutions. Even if they were lucky enough to become extraordinary, they didn't have the money to start the ascension ceremony - they might not even know what the ascension ceremony required.
Under such circumstances, a rebellion by the common people would be impossible to succeed. No matter how powerful it was, the extraordinary people could easily suppress it.
"—but the situation of the Third Rebellion was different, for their monarch was dead."
"……I see!"
When Aiwass said this, Anne's eyes widened and she blurted out: "Because they are scared!"
"That's right."
Sherlock nodded, calmly and leisurely picking up his tea. "It's because the nobles don't know who is behind this incident... who was able to bypass the sentries of the Hawkeye Organization and the three archdukes, bypass the Royal Guards, kill their way to the palace, kill through the Imperial Guards, capture all the royal family members, and behead a large number of the fourth-level extraordinary people among them."
As he spoke, he pinched his throat and made a disgusting sound: "'Who on earth could have done this?' 'Even His Majesty the King was killed, how could we possibly resist?' 'This isn't a rebellion started by ordinary people, but a coup launched by a powerful figure to establish dictatorship!' 'If we stand in the way, I'm afraid we'll be eliminated as well!'"
“—So, they were frightened.”
Having said that, Sherlock couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a sarcastic sneer.
Because this matter was so interesting - at least for him, an Avalonian, it was so much fun. That was why he became more and more obsessed with it.
Although he was half-abducted and half-tricked into coming here, he was still very interested in investigating the case. Not only because of his curiosity, but also because the case was indeed very interesting and was particularly delicious.
If this matter was not inconvenient to tell outsiders, he would definitely ask reporters to come and make it public.
"...You mean," Anne said in disbelief, "that these nobles...were actually scared to death by themselves?"
"That's it."
Sherlock gave his own conclusion of the investigation: "From the very beginning, there was no 'manipulator behind the scenes'. The nobles quickly surrendered and accepted the confiscation of their property. And the rapid surrender of other nobles made those nobles who had not yet surrendered even more frightened.
"It's like when soldiers on a battlefield collapse in fear. The number of knights trampled to death by their comrades and disoriented in the chaos far exceeds the number actually killed. And aside from the few who engage in combat, the rest of the group is completely unaware of what's happening. They're simply being swept along, unable to move forward even if they want.
"—it was a dramatic rout."
"...But," Anne still found it hard to understand, "didn't even one person stand up? During the Third Rebellion, wasn't it just the property of the nobles that was taken? So many people were hanged, kidnapped, and even taken away and sold into slavery in Parthia... It's impossible that they would rather accept this fate than dare to take action?"
Even in a group of pigs, there is always one particularly brave pig.
Among so many people, is there not even one who dares to resist?
"...Of course not."
Sherlock's eyes were deep, and the sarcastic smile on his face faded a little as he looked at old Argon.
His words were cautious, calm, and profound: "I think this is why the Grand Duke asked me to investigate this matter."
“—It’s us.”
Argan said, “The people who executed those who rebelled came from our three families.
"The Stonemasons Brotherhood, the prototype of the Hawkeye Organization, had close ties with the civilians and had infiltrated the ranks of the Third Rebellion... Therefore, it cannot be said that there weren't any extraordinary individuals among them.
"The Duke of Harcourt, the Minister of War, ordered the army not to move out. He said this was an order from His Majesty—the Iris army could not target the Iris people. So even though they killed His Majesty, they did not send the army to quell the rebellion.
"And I am responsible for bringing misfortune to those nobles His Majesty dislikes. Anne, those nobles you mentioned earlier... those who were hanged, kidnapped, and sold... If you investigate carefully, you will find that they were all nobles who had previously committed serious mistakes but were covered up by power, or they were just those who ignored the monarch's orders and acted recklessly."
The old man's tone was calm, slow, and leisurely, yet filled with ruthless and resolute murderous intent: "This wasn't instructed by Your Majesty... but when I realized that the entire royal family was killed without any warning... it was most likely that there was a traitor among us.
"In that case, what I have to do is to send all those who deserve to die to death—at least at the long table of the new government, there won't be any plates and knives and forks left for them.
"—I don't know who the traitor is, but I can at least make sure those who deserve it the most and are the least worthy of it don't have any power at all. That way, even if they participate in the rebellion, they won't gain anything from it.
"And I... I'm not really good at political struggles. I don't know if they've secretly formed some kind of alliance of interest, but no one has invited us to join. But fittingly, our family is quite popular. So a lot of people are willing to help... Or maybe it's just that everyone dislikes those people."
"You mean..."
Anne's eyes widened.
"That's right, Annie," the old man said calmly, stroking a large ring on his finger, "the people who did what you said...are from our family.
"Royal power isn't just a sword; it's also an umbrella. And it shields not only its own people... but more importantly, the nobles at the center of the umbrella. When the umbrella falls, they will be the first to bear the brunt."
"I noticed something very subtle."
When Aiwas heard this, he smiled easily.
He pointed out the detail: "Nobles who disobey the king's orders are often the most unpopular. They are the ones who deliberately bring poverty and famine to the Swan King in order to cause trouble."
Although this seems to be a coincidence, it is subtly reasonable.
——How brave must a person be to even resist the king’s orders! If a person dares to bully the king, won’t he also bully the people below him?
"Yes," the old prince nodded, "this is retribution."
"That……"
Yasen couldn't help but be curious, so he asked, "What did Duke Beaufort do again?"
Although the three Grand Dukes are all considered to be countries within countries, their specific powers and responsibilities and classifications are somewhat different.
The Duke of Harcourt, also known as the "Wolf Duke", is a pure soldier; while the Duke of Vendôme is called the "Ice Heart Duke". The Vendôme family has a great influence on the literary and artistic circles - this means that he basically indirectly controls the high-end extraordinary people in the entire path of beauty, and has controlling stakes in theater troupes and theaters across the country.
The Iris Theater that went to Avalon to perform received investment from the Vendôme family.
The Duke of Beaufort controls the financial power.
"The formation of the 'Citizens' Council' was proposed by the Duke of Beaufort."
The old duke said slowly, "He was the one who organized the new government of the Fleur-de-Lys... He kept saying things like 'even the worst order is better than chaos,' and he was eager to put an end to this rebellion. Actually, he's the one I'm most suspicious of."
"Now that everyone's innocent can be proven... isn't that good?"
Anne was very puzzled.
"It's very simple..."
Aiwass spoke up, revealing the old duke's inner thoughts: "Because what my grandfather is thinking of is actually a war. A 'war to cleanse everything' to solve all the problems that Iris has accumulated. That's why he is desperately searching for a 'culprit.'
"—if I am right, he intends to overthrow the Citizens' Council.
"Launch the fifteenth rebellion of Iris."
Update completed meow!
(End of this chapter)
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