Chapter 73: A Good Show
Chapter 73: A Good Show
"What is the situation with the academies? Tell me." Sitting inside the Royal carriage, Prince Blake Bancroft asked.
"It's going really well, your majesty. I've done exactly what you asked, and so far, everything has been going absolutely smoothly. You do not have anything to worry about!" General Ivan, who was sitting opposite the Prince, spoke as a faint smile emerged onto his face. Next to him sat Minister Burne, who had a calm expression on his face as the general spoke his words.
"Oh! Absolutely smoothly, you say? Is that right?" The Prince, Blake Bancroft,looked at the General and asked in a surprised manner. He had expected General Ivan to complete his task, but he wasn't expecting such an easygoing response from him. That was truly surprising to the Prince.
"Yes, your majesty!" General Ivan smiled, portraying utmost confidence as he spoke. "In fact, the unit from Barugh whom you lent me was especially useful in doing so. They are an extremely competent and highly trained group of cultivators who can adapt to any situation easily. I must say, I am impressed by Barugh!"
An astute glow emerged within the General's eyes, as he continued; "They're currently taking care of our enemies in the Golden Avarice Academy, and which will most likely take another few hours if we consider cleaning up and burning the corpses as well."
"Well done! You did good, General Ivan. You have exceeded my expectations, and for that I will reward you greatly!" The Prince let out a hearty laughter as soon as he finished speaking. He was really happy right now. The Academies were being dealt with and will soon be under his control, and his enemies will be dead. Things were turning out to be far better than he was expecting.
"And now, we just need a final push! A reason to bring together the citizens of Argria to our side and to completely erase what we did to the academies. What we need is a distraction!" The Prince's smile was so big that his eyes could barely be seen.
He then threw his glance to Minister Burne and said with a smile on his face, "Minister, I hope you've done what I asked you to do. This needs to be perfect!"
"Of course your majesty! I've done what you asked of me, and I've made sure that nothing interferes with our plans." Minister Burne replied. He then glanced at the Prince for a brief second, and continued; "Your majesty, please be careful!" Minister Burne expressed his deep concern for the Prince, who smiled back in return.
"Do not worry, Minister Burne. I'll be alright. Just don't make any mistakes, and everything will be fine!" The Prince spoke confidently, letting out a chuckle.
Thud!
The carriage came to a stop as it reached the altar.
"Oh, it looks like we have reached our destination!" The Prince said, after noticing that the carriage had stopped moving. He got up from his seat and moved to the doors as he continued, "Wish me luck!"
"Give them a good show!" "Good luck, your majesty!"
The Minister and the General spoke at the same time and the Prince opened the doors to the carriage and stepped out onto the altar!
No person was able to move their eyes away from the young man. With his pair of bright blue eyes, he was exuding a prestigious aura from the moment he exited the carriage!
The Prince gently raised his head and glanced at the crowd, and with a smile on his face, he said, "Greetings, my fellow citizens. I am Blake Bancroft!"
"Oh heavens, the news was indeed true!"
"Our new king has arrived!"
"Long live the new ruler of Argria, King Blake Bancroft!"
Excited by the appearance of the new and soon to be King, the people began whispering amongst themselves.
"My fellow citizens, hear me!" After noticing that the crowd had a favourable first impression of him, Blake Bancroft smiled and spoke loudly so as to get everyone's attention, and as soon as he spoke, the entire city of Josenheim turned dead silent.
"Citizens of Argria! It is with excitement and anticipation that I am standing before you today, on this altar. And I know that most of you feel the same way!" Blake Bancroft's voice was loud and thunderous, capturing everyone's attention. It was as if every single one of them was possessed.
"But today, before everything else, I have decided to tell you something important! Something that you all need to know. Something that's going to endanger the safety of everyone!" Blake stopped for a second before exhaling, and continued; "I need you to know about Gilbert Gottfried!"
*****************
Both Claude and Senior Beldon were sitting on the ground, watching the Third Elder and Commander Rivaldo Dante talk to each other while floating in the sky. Claude squinted his eyes as he watched the two of them, and softly whispered; "... They're coming down."
Senior Wilfred Beldon, who heard Claude's words tilted his head up in response. "It seems they are indeed coming down.."
He got up from the ground, walked in front of Claude and asked, "You need help standing up or has your cultivation completely recovered yet?"
Fwip!
Claude tried to move his muscles in order to try and get up from the ground, but apart from a few fingers and his mouth, he found out that he still couldn't move the rest of his body.
"No, not yet.." Claude shook his head as his gaze shifted towards Senior Beldon and said, "It appears I'm going to be needing your help, senior!"
A grin emerged on Senior Wilfred Beldon's face as he grabbed Claude by the shoulder and pulled him up, and he walked towards the spot the Third Elder and the Commander were descending towards.
"Oh? The kid isn't able to move yet? The effects of the drug haven't completely disappeared yet, huh.." Commander Rivaldo Dante eyed Claude, who was pulled up by Wilfred Beldon, and spoke with his hand on his chin.
"Thank you for the observation, Commander. That was extremely insightful!" Claude said in a sarcastic manner, and the Third Elder let out a loud laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha! You know what, I really like this kid!" The Third Elder said and he immediately let out a chuckle as the Commander clicked his tongue. "It really isn't that funny, alright?"
"Now that you've finally finished off the Headmaster and the Second Elder, may I ask what's the next step?" Claude asked as his gaze shifted to the Third Elder, who stopped laughing instantly.
"Of course, murdering an entire faction and many disciples and elders, along with the Headmaster of a prominent academy isn't something that can be easily swept under the rug," The Third Elder said, as an evil grin began forming on his lips. Clearly, they had a plan on how to deal with such a situation!
"I'm listening," Claude replied, and the Third Elder nodded his head and continued; "Well, it's something that's hard to cover up, but not totally impossible. The problem is time, manpower, and no one suspiciously snooping around..."
"The immediate 'resignation' of the Headmaster of a prestigious academy and his second in command is surely going to make at least some people suspicious." Claude replied. "Not to mention the said second in command's whole faction disappearing overnight and its disciples going 'missing' as well. Questions will rise."
"That's why we need something bigger!" the Third Elder snapped his fingers and pointed at Claude as he spoke. "An incident that's bigger than the academy. Something that concerns all of the citizens of Argria, that they'd have no choice but to put all their attention towards this issue!"
"... Gottfried!" Claude's eyes widened with surprise as he suddenly blurted out his words. "The news about Gilbert Gottfried and his army is going to be big if revealed to the public. I could cause a nationwide panic! You're planning on revealing it?"
"Not us!" Senior Wilfred Beldon, who was pulling him up, interjected into the conversation and said, "But the Prince. He wishes to reveal the information to the public today, during his coronation!"
"But wouldn't some people still be suspicious of the academies even if something that big happens?" Claude asked, and Commander Rivaldo Dante replied, "It's likely that a few people will find the whole thing suspicious, but we've dealt with problems like that before. It's the number of suspicious people that's the issue. And this will definitely limit that to something that's shorter and more of our range."
"Alright. But what about trust?" Claude posed another question. "It would be clear to a lot of people that the Royal Family had received the information a long time ago if you do decide to reveal it. Wouldn't an issue of trust come up?"
"It could. But don't worry, the Prince has thought of that as well!" This time, it was the Third Elder who spoke. "After all, we haven't gotten rid of one enemy group yet! And they're going to come in handy real soon!"