Chapter 46: The Noble's Game
At this moment, in the luxurious bedroom deep within the castle, Count Joseph, who was no longer young, lay on the huge canopy bed with his eyes tightly closed and motionless. If not for the faint rise and fall of his chest and the soft sound of breathing that could only be detected by careful listening, he would have been just like a corpse, devoid of any vitality.
In fact, this has already become a walking corpse. The soul in the body had long been extracted by Wiseman's "Nightmare Hand", leaving behind only a lump of flesh without any consciousness. If it weren't for that, even if Count Joseph was really seriously ill, how could he easily allow his not-so-favorite youngest son Quin to ascend so simply?
It was precisely because he estimated the viscount's ability to restrain that Weissman chose this troublesome method - if you don't listen, let the viscount sober up - undoubtedly, this is the empire's chip for controlling Quin.
But now, this chip is finally going to be destroyed.
Lancester? Joseph, this old general knew that even if Middy accepted the surrender of the defending forces, he would absolutely not tolerate his own dangerous existence. Moreover, even if Middy was kind enough to accept his head as a gift, as an old man who had betrayed his master and had the blood of the Joseph family flowing through his veins, he would absolutely not be able to escape the pursuit of the family's revenge.
Since there is no way out, it's better to carry loyalty through to the end, in order to bring blessings to one's own family and descendants.
So Lanzhou came here.
He wants to kill Count Joseph, let Middy not get this heavy chip, let Quin directly advance to the earl, and all the scolding names will be borne by this old man who is about to rot.
Even if it's Fiona or Hamilton, their miraculously precise shots wouldn't be able to hit here!
The old general thought so, drew out the snow-bright long sword from his waist, stood beside the bed, took a deep breath, grasped the long sword with trembling hands, raised it high, ready to behead the count with one sword.
With just one sword, everything will be over.
However, at this moment, the Earl opened his eyes and stared directly at Lancaster. His eyes had no luster, just like two black holes that made people feel as if their souls were being sucked in!
Lance's body was as if it had been struck by a heavy blow, and he shook violently. He had the awareness of taking on the crime of regicide, but not the awareness of facing the Earl himself, and the long sword held high above his head seemed to freeze in that moment, unable to be swung down no matter what.
However, the earl apparently did not intend to wait.
The old man, who had been lying in bed like a candle in the wind, suddenly sprang up with unimaginable strength and knocked down Lancaster. Then, he moved like a wild beast, on all fours, using his hands and feet, and quickly crawled across the expensive carpet, pulling out a gleaming blade from a secret place and attacking the enemy in front of him.
Although Ranster was old in age, he was still a 28th-level knight. However, facing the Earl's extremely strange appearance, he almost had no power to resist.
In an instant, the hands holding the sword had been cut by the sharp blade, and together with the sword, they fell to the ground, blood gushing from the severed arm.
"Earl-sama, wai...!" Lanzelt cried out in agony.
But before he could finish his cry, the Earl had pounced on him like a wild beast and buried the blade deep in the old general's chest.
The room fell silent again.
The earl didn't make any extra movements, nor did he show any emotions, and he didn't even call anyone in. He just stood there stupidly, like a magical puppet waiting for the next command.
After about a few dozen minutes, accompanied by the sound of many footsteps, either heavy or light, hurried or steady, the bedroom door was opened again.
"What is this?" The one walking at the very front was none other than Lancet's deputy officer, the large knight who had previously walked out of the castle with a white flag.
Although it was not explicitly stated, the deputy officer obviously also knew Lanster's intentions, so he would take Midi and others to Count Joseph's bedroom, because at this time, everything had already ended.
But he did not expect that his old superior would actually die, and the Earl, would actually wake up!
"It seems that there has been a shameful betrayal within the Joseph family." Meddie stepped forward and said to Count Joseph, without waiting for the count's response, "I was originally furious about the Joseph family's declaration of war, but from the current situation, it seems like someone's conspiracy. This Lancer, I remember he is Quinlan? Joseph's lackey, so does that mean everything was Quinlan's arbitrary decision?"
"Yes." The earl nodded and replied with a single word in a wooden tone.
It's hard to imagine a count as cunning as you would give such an answer, but Medici didn't hesitate at all and nodded in satisfaction. "In that case," he continued, "I have a proposal: let me take full responsibility for the affairs of the Joseph family and solve all the problems brought by Quinlan for you, how about it?"
His own son got into trouble and provoked the enemy, now the enemy is coming to replace the earl to solve his son, this makes no sense at all, it's completely a case of strong words and robbery.
But Count Joseph's face didn't change at all, still expressionless as usual, then he nodded again and replied with one word: "Good."
"Well then, let's issue a joint statement signed by both of us later." Middy smiled and glanced at the great knight of the Joseph family beside him.
Faced with this rapidly deteriorating situation, the great knight was clearly at a loss.
"What did Count Joseph mean? You all heard it?" asked Middy coldly.
"It is..." The great knight could only answer like this, although there were too many places that made him suspicious. However, facing the winner, what else could he question?
"So, kindly repeat everything you've seen and heard to everyone inside Joseph's Fort." Middy patted his shoulder, then the two elven great swordsmen came over without hesitation, not waiting for a response, and escorted the grand knight out.
Until this moment, Mei Di finally let out a long sigh, then glanced at the silent Fog Magic Woman beside him and asked softly: "In terms of control, there's no burden, right?"
"A mere candle in the wind like this old man, how can he be my opponent?" Alice glared at Midy with a cold gaze, seemingly very dissatisfied with such excessive worry. "Besides, his soul has long been extracted, it's just a physical body, not even needing to suppress the soul, just controlling it like a puppet on strings is enough."
"What means of the Empire of Delos?" Meddy slightly furrowed her brow, then a smile rose to the corners of her mouth. "However, even if it were them, they wouldn't have thought of Adou, and in the end, this move helped us out."
As he spoke, a half-transparent small snake emerged from the brow of Count Joseph, stretching out its tongue and making a hissing sound, as if it were taking credit.
The Familiar of the Fog Witch, Tsukumogami Snake.
Communicate with the soul, manipulate the soul, sneak through dreams, control others' bodies... Although the spiritual snake does not have the ability to attack directly, its body is extremely weak and small. However, the abilities it possesses are abnormally terrifying.
As a noble son, having experienced countless ups and downs in his previous life, and having witnessed the intrigue of many kingdoms, Medici naturally knew what was most valuable in the entire Joseph's Castle.
He would have anticipated the enemy's choice of scorched earth, so he had planned multiple plans to capture or protect the Earl, and Alice's spiritual snake was just one of them.
It just so happens that the other party's luck is obviously worse, and they happened to hit the trap head-on and were caught in the act of rebellion.
With this, given the well-known relationship between Lanzhou and Quin, that young master would soon find himself in a very passive position.
What's left to do is very simple, just make public the script that was written long ago.
On the second day after Medici took down Joseph's fort, a very formal document was delivered directly to the noble parliament of Hettomar, the capital of the principality.
In this document, Count Joseph denounced his own son Quinlan Joseph as a traitor devoid of humanity and morality, portraying him as an unrepentant scoundrel, claiming that raising such a son was the greatest mistake of his life, and formally declared the cancellation of his inheritance.
At the same time, Count Joseph also extravagantly praised Medea's righteous words and actions, and decided to hand over all management rights of his territory in terms of legislation, administration, taxation, finance, military affairs, etc. to Medea, and as a price, Medea should fulfill Count Joseph's wish - kill his son Quinlan.
Undoubtedly, no one will believe the statement in this document.
A spokesperson for the Sais family called it a "farce", while a representative of the Joseph family was so incensed that he wanted to rush straight up to the Speaker's podium and tear up the document.
However, the signature of Count Joseph on the document was genuine. Moreover, Count Joseph appeared in the castle and uttered the words "Quin should die". Thus, regardless of the content of the document and whether it made sense or not, it was put on the agenda.
"It's the lord's decision, so let's carry it out." The Iron-Blooded Duke Heidrich Hamilton, who had always been at odds with the council, said in a low voice.
And then no one could refute it anymore.
But even if he refuted it, who could drive Mitya out of Joseph's fortress?
This is the game of nobles, no need for "reason", as long as it conforms to the "rules" and the miraculous victory of taking down Josephsburg within a day, as well as the signature of Count Joseph, are already sufficient.
Behind the scenes, Queen's faction pushed the bloated genealogy record institution of the Principality of Bellmare to an incredibly efficient level. The process that would have taken at least a year was completed in just one day. On the second day, before sunrise, an urgent package was sent out and by noon, a messenger from the capital had already arrived under the castle of the Asrecks family and handed over a letter signed by the Queen and the Speaker to Quinlan Josef.
From then on, Count Joseph's statement took effect, from then on, Quinny was Quinny and Joseph was Joseph. He would lose all his inheritance rights and could no longer pretend to be a nobleman.
Will Quin accept such a result? Of course not.
The Seychelles family would watch with their own eyes as their dependent families were stripped of their titles, listening to the arrogant laughter from the Queen's party nobles, and then let Midy take away an entire earldom? Of course not.
But the demonic vine still firmly defended the castle of the Asrecks family, and the Earls of Batran and Ingman patrolled on the castle walls every day, while an army of over 10,000 people couldn't find a way to attack.
How much longer can we wait before attacking? Can we still afford to wait? Of course not.
Thus, the choice left to General Red Fox and Quinlan, who had already lost the surname "Joseph", was only one.
Return to Fort Joseph.
"It's finally time for the final battle." Standing on the high ground that overlooked the entire landscape of Josephburg, Middy took a deep breath, as if sniffing out the scent of gunpowder and iron blood from the air.
"I've been waiting for so long that I'm about to get impatient." The red-haired girl said with a smile, as confident as ever, without any tension or unease. Just standing there, her eyes and expression made it seem like victory was a foregone conclusion.
"It's just a hassle." The black-haired girl let out a soft sigh, but it wasn't because she was uneasy, it was simply that she found it troublesome, as if what she was about to face wasn't the attack of an army of ten thousand people, but rather a house full of trash that needed to be sorted, packed up and cleaned.
A strong wind on a winter day blew up at this moment, lifting the long hair of the girls, black and red intertwined in a stubborn dance, although it was an oppressive atmosphere before the war, but it gave people a sense of beauty like a poem.
Looking at such companions, Midei felt full of confidence.
How can I be confident?
This is the Fog Witch and the Bullet Queen, plus myself with twenty years of rebirth experience and advantages, the "Iron Triangle" of the Hawk's Team, and it's even stronger than in my previous life!
Of course, we will definitely win, no matter what kind of enemy we face, the Scarlet Flame Legion that is five times our own strength, or the terrifying Delos Empire.
"Let's go for a ride." Midy said, gazing out at the distant blue horizon.
In this life, facing the blowing wind of fate, he said so.
