On the next day, the envoy group was on their way again after packing their luggage.
Old Basil was sitting in the carriage just like yesterday.
They were not far from their destination, Lancaster, and would definitely arrive by the evening at the latest.
As a core member of the envoy group, the most important thing at the moment was to think about how he should treat the mayor of Lancaster.
Should he keep him at arm's length from the start and draw a clear line in a business-like manner, or should he feign warmth to numb him and get his information at the same time?
Just as these two thoughts popped up in old Basil's mind, he immediately denied them.
Being cold or even hostile definitely wouldn't work.
While His Imperial Majesty would definitely find a target to make an example out of, if His Imperial Majesty didn't choose Lancaster, Joshua's actions might mislead the mayor of Lancaster into thinking that he was a target as well. While it wasn't wrong from a certain perspective, it wasn't the time to push Lancaster to the enemy's side, or worse, the new emperor's army might be caught in the crossfire.
When that happens, Basil wouldn't be able to escape blame regardless of the outcome.
Still, pretending to be friendly wasn't a good idea. After all, aside from protecting him, the kings around him were also the new emperor's most loyal eyes. Though they were outstanding in martial arts, their brains were rigid, and there was an eighty percent chance that they wouldn't believe him even if he told the new emperor that he was feigning civility with the mayor of Lancaster, and would exaggerate the truth to him.
Even if the new emperor could probably see through his intentions, Basil didn't want to be categorized as a rebel just to be safe. They might not be aware, but Basil was a veteran of the court who had long since sensed that the new emperor intended to purge all unstable elements in the Valla Empire.
That included but wasn't limited to the descendants of duchies that were divided at the founding of the empire, major nobles who posed a certain threat to the imperial family, rebellious lieges, old vassals of Tierra, and so on …
The mayor of Lancaster was one of the last two, and with its status as a commercial city that even the imperial family coveted, he was definitely a target to be purged. Still, there was no telling what order he would be placed in the purge list.
Basil had lived for so long under the lord's command, and his character was quite slippery and astute. That was why he did not want to have anything to do with the rebels.
"Either way, if Knight Monan is right and the Lancaster city watch doesn't have any powerful warriors, I could just have Knight and the others give the Lancastrians a show of strength. After that, I could be a little more enthusiastic and leave a deeper impression."
Basil muttered to himself.
Before Basil could think of a better solution, he suddenly felt the carriage stop.
"Have we arrived?" Basil parted the curtains, and his expression changed. "But it doesn't look like there's a city up ahead."
"Sir Basil, someone is blocking our way."
Monan directed Lone Bird to approach the carriage, his tone a little strange.
The old man didn't think too much about it. He opened the front door of the carriage and saw who was blocking his way.
A tall but not burly figure was standing in the middle of the road, seemingly in a confrontation with the other Royal Knights.
His attire looked very simple and crude. Even so, one could still see the distinct muscles on his body through the old clothes on his body.
Still, it wasn't his attire or the single-edged weapon he carried on his back that was clearly longer than the average blade.
Instead, it was the accessory on his head.
It was a pink flatfish head mask.
The flatfish's tail was up and its head down, and its two eyes on the same side of its body were staring at everyone present with the purest eyes of a dead fish.
At first glance, it was as if the flatfish had swallowed the man's head.
"Who are you?!" Old Basil shouted at him from a distance of ten meters away.
"I'm just a passerby … Oh, no, I'm someone sent by Lancaster to receive the royal envoy."
The pink flatfish answered honestly.
What he said was clearly very normal, but the idiotic look of him wearing the flatfish mask was so surreal that it gave others the feeling that he was joking.
In fact, old Basil was even adjusting his opinion of the Lancaster mayor from 'a wise man who could make a wise decision and preserve a significant portion of his forces' to 'he's not an idiot, is he? Perhaps the late emperor cared about his reputation and didn't want to steal from the hands of an idiot '…
Of course, Basil quickly dispelled that thought.
An idiot wouldn't be able to run a city like an iron bucket, and the Imperial Capital felt as if they couldn't interfere. Even the baron who had almost torn all pretense of cordiality died mysteriously in the slums, which left many important people in the Imperial Capital in a troublesome situation. All they could do was buy over a small group of Lancaster nobles who weren't that important, and slowly erode the interior.
If that was the case, there was only one reason why they would send such a person: it was unquestionably a provocation.
There was a flash of understanding in old Basil's eyes at that very thought.
'I see. So they're trying to test my attitude with such a tough stance to ascertain His Imperial Majesty's intentions?'
'What a clever move!' Any other envoys with less experience would have been left dumbfounded by the other's idiocy and could only allow themselves to be led by the nose, and would even appear weaker when they reached Lancaster.
'It's a pity that I've seen through it all!'
Old Basil stroked his beard and quietly asked Monan beside him, "Is that the brat from the McCobley family you mentioned before?"
"Definitely not. That guy has the pride of a knight, he wouldn't wear such a funny headgear …" Monan's eyes twitched as he watched the flounder's tail and fins, "That's disrespectful to the opponent!"
"That's good."
Making up his mind, the old man cleared his throat and said loudly, "Your words are no proof, and it's unreasonable for us to follow you. That said, I've heard that the Lancaster general's soldiers are extraordinary, so why don't you let my squire spar with you to prove your strength!"
The old man had assumed that the man would refuse since the Lancaster army was quite weak, and if he did so, he would naturally have the upper hand.
But the pink flatfish didn't hesitate to draw the sword he was carrying on his back.
[Tip: Type 'Panda Literature' into a search engine to find this site. Thank you.]
Chapter 279:
Fierce Folk Custom
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
