Chapter 277: He is confident and fearless
"Prince Solok was attacked by an unknown person and was severely injured, on the brink of death."
Such news had spread among the nobility by the following day.
Prince Solok, covered in blood, was discovered in the royal palace’s courtyard by a patrolling knight. This news couldn’t be concealed and spread to every noble’s ears overnight through countless mouths.
"What?"
"Prince Solok was attacked?"
"What happened?"
Numerous nobles were shocked after hearing the news upon waking up.
An attack on a prince of the realm that left him close to death was undoubtedly a significant event.
Especially since the target was Prince Solok, not some incompetent royal cast aside in the palace but rather the most outstanding successor of this royal generation, a strong contender for the next king. This was tantamount to piercing the heavens of the Ginas Kingdom—a major incident.
In that moment, whether part of the royal faction or the duke’s, all were shocked and anxious.
They could almost see the royal family’s fury, envision the King’s anger.
The reality was not far from their imagination.
When the news reached King Hemulinp, he was indeed enraged. He dispatched the knights stationed in the palace, the court magicians, and even the royal Shadow Knights overnight to the scene of the incident to investigate and hunt down the assailant.
Many nobles were either suspected or implicated and were summoned to the palace one after another to face royal interrogation.
Thanks to this, many citizens who were just waking up and stepping out of their homes in the capital were surprised to find knights rushing through the streets, searching every household, and carriages driving back and forth in a hurry.
"What’s going on?"
"What happened?"
The people were suddenly plunged into a state of slight panic, stirred up by the actions of the royal household.
......
In the central district of the city, the Codelion Duke’s residence.
At that moment, Saint Charia was hurrying to a study room.
"Brother, I’ve brought back the intelligence."
Saint Charia spoke to the only person in the study room, holding a piece of parchment in her hand.
"Let me have a look."
The person responding to Saint Charia was the same handsome blonde young man who had been exercising in the mansion’s backyard the last time—a picture of an ambitious and refined aristocrat, projecting an air of scholarly elegance and nobility.
This man was Saint Charia’s brother, the famous sibling duo of the Codelion Family, viewed as the best successor for the next king with a very high right of succession—the eldest son of the Codelion Duke’s family—Saint Nidor Kedalion.
He took the intelligence his sister brought back and quickly glanced through its contents.
During this process, Saint Charia, in a tone of either admiration or incredulity, spoke out.
"That mad dog really almost got killed. He was on the brink of death, and even the court magicians could barely save him. In the end, it was only the king’s use of a treasured item from the royal treasury that saved his life."
Who caused this? Others might not know, but the siblings knew all too well.
After all, if they weren’t the perpetrators, they were accomplices.
That’s why Saint Charia found it so unbelievable.
"I knew he would take action, but I didn’t expect him to be so bold," Saint Charia murmured. "To actually attempt to kill a prince in his prime. Doesn’t the Thunder Light Sword Saint fear the royal family’s trouble?"
Indeed, Sword Saints are mighty, but the kingdom is not limited to Reiger alone.
If Reiger truly crossed the royal family’s red line, the enraged royal family, if determined to kill him, could indeed do so.
Not to mention the Shadow Sword Saint’s personal loyalty to the royal family, the kingdom also commands other Sword Saints such as the Border Guardian Sword Saint, the Meteor Sword Saint, and that Sword Saint from the Borlay family for dispatching.
Given a sufficient pretext, the royal family could send several Sword Saints to besiege Reiger and put him to the sword.
Facing many Sword Saints, could Reiger possibly win?
Let alone, if that aged, inscrutable Sword Saint within the palace were to take action, the real trouble would then begin.
That Sword Saint is renowned as the strongest in the kingdom, having served three generations of kings, defending the palace for nearly a century. Despite advanced age, there is no sign of his combat ability waning.
There are many legends about him in the Ginas Kingdom, with several current Sword Saints having challenged him. However, without exception, they all declared after the fact that they were no match for the elderly Sword Saint.
In neighboring great countries, many people hold a sense of fear toward this illustrious elderly Sword Saint because of the numerous incidents he has caused in their nations.
Before such power, what resistance could Reiger, a newly minted Sword Saint, possibly offer?
Maybe he wouldn’t even manage a decent defense?
Otherwise, the nobles of the duke’s faction would have taken action against Solok long ago and would not have left him until now.
It is owing to the fear of the royal power and dread of those many Sword Saints that the duke’s faction nobles have remained stationary, allowing Saint Nidor to compete with Solok in a legitimate manner to assume the throne.
Reiger, however, was different. He stayed his hand until ready, but when he struck, it was lethal, completely disregarding the fury of the royal family.
"This only proves one thing,"
Saint Nidor Kedalion placed the finished intelligence report on his desk and spoke with a meaningful tone.
"Either he is fearless,"
"Or he never considered the consequences."
"Which one do you think it is?"
The words of Saint Nidor made Saint Charia involuntarily recall her impression of Reiger when she saw him in the honey wine restaurant.
Those calm, indifferent, rippleless eyes had left a profound impression on Saint Charia.
In view of this...
"The former, I guess?" Saint Charia said uncertainly, "Is he really that fearless?"
"Perhaps," Saint Nidor was evidently not certain about these kinds of things and merely said, "The one thing we can be sure of is that since he has done it, we are likely to be caught in the aftermath."
It’s unavoidable; when the next king supported by the royal family is nearly assassinated, the ducal faction—the obvious rival—will surely be the first to come under suspicion.
The royal family will definitely suspect that this was the doing of the ducal faction, or to say, they’ll suspect the Codelion Family.
There was no doubt the siblings would be implicated.
"The next ones to be summoned might be us."
The words of Saint Nidor caused Saint Charia to show an expression of headache.
Just thinking about what was to come, even Saint Charia felt extremely troubled.
"His fine deeds," Saint Charia sighed and muttered, "He’s got it good, knowing how to hide his identity, while we are miserable, having to share some of the responsibility for his actions."
"This tells us that the favor of a Sword Saint is not so easy to secure," said Saint Nidor, managing a wry smile, "Even if he’s younger than me, at your age, he is still a Sword Saint."
Saint Nidor was already thinking about how to clear himself and Reiger of suspicions from this incident.
What’s done is done, and lamenting would be useless.
Moreover, a crisis can also be an opportunity; if they got through this, their relationship with Reiger would become even closer, and the royal faction would waver, suffering the turbulence brought about by this incident.
If they could seize the chance, it’s possible to turn a bad situation into a good one.
"This time, I’ll cover for you,"
Saint Nidor seemed to be speaking to Reiger, who was not present, murmuring to himself.
"Don’t let me down, okay?"
"Thunder Light Sword Saint."
...
At the same time, in the King’s chamber at the palace, King Hemulinp sat with a heavy expression, his eyes flickering with a trace of anger.
"How is it?" King Hemulinp spoke to the empty space, asking, "Have you found anything out?"
A flickering shadow appeared behind King Hemulinp.
"’Shadow’ has now organized all the intelligence that could be collected,"
The voice of Rom reached King Hemulinp’s ears.
"After investigation, it has been confirmed that after Prince Solok had a conflict with Reiger Brillhaut in the audience room, he sent people to the Baron Borlay’s territory that very night and apprehended the Baron of Borlay and Brillhaut’s family, bringing them all back to the capital."
"Last night, he sneaked out of the palace alone and headed for the abandoned houses near the city walls. There, not only were there many knights belonging to the prince that were not recorded, but also Baron Borlay and the Brillhaut family."
"Then, the prince was attacked by a group of mysterious figures. The leader claimed to be Shinobu, using a sword technique that could manipulate mist. According to the descriptions of the surviving knights, I judge that the sword technique could be an Assassination Sword Skill of the same type and not inferior to the Shadow Strike Sword Skill."
"The prince was pierced through the chest by a sword and nearly died on the spot."
With Rom’s report, King Hemulinp’s expression became increasingly unpleasant, and the anger in his eyes grew more intense.
"Bang!"
In the end, King Hemulinp could no longer contain himself and slammed his hand on the table forcefully.
His first object of anger was not someone else, but his own son.
"Violating the house arrest order to leave the palace secretly and hiding private soldiers, this rascal is increasingly disregarding me!"
Just recently, King Hemulinp was embarrassed by a complaint filed by Yuri over the mess that Solok had caused. Now, with Solok stirring up such trouble again, he could already anticipate what those nobles below would say behind his back.
If it were not his own son, and the most outstanding one at that, King Hemulinp would definitely not have turned a blind eye.
"What else?"
Suppressing his rage, King Hemulinp asked the key question.
"Who is pulling the strings behind all this?"
"The Codelion Family?"
"Or... Reiger Brillhaut?"