Chapter 715: Twenty-Eight Hours

"Therefore, we failed."

Genard, who was leading Jenny, suddenly spoke, drawing many sideways glances.

"During the Bloody Year, our Star Glory Legion rushed to aid Blade Fief," Genard raised his head and also looked toward the sky, filled with emotion, "but we were beaten until we were routed, losing helmets and armor all the way."

Morgan touched the hilt of his blade and frowned.

"Duke John did not understand why, every time the nine-pointed star banner was raised, the enemy on the opposite side would have their morale soar. They would become fierce, angry, brave, and fearless of death, comparable to Northlanders. Now I understand. We fellows who thought we were going to liberate Blade Fief, going to 'resist enemy invaders,' were the true foreign forces."

The moment he said this, everyone in the Star Lake Guard fell silent.

Thales sat in the carriage, wordless, his expression ugly.

Under the unfamiliar gazes of the surrounding people, their group walked through the unfamiliar streets of Jade City in low spirits and with a heavy atmosphere.

But Thales soon realized that the matter on Luhsan Street had far-reaching influence, and the challenges he would face during his governance went far beyond this small bit.

"This was indeed not a coincidence."

A few hours later, Glover and Miranda returned from outside and brought Thales the first-hand, most direct truth, one that had not been covered up or concealed by any official force:

"It was inevitable."

It turned out that the two groups who had clashed were not some hoodlums. On the contrary, they were ordinary civilians. One side was made up of coachmen from the Carriage Guild, mostly native South Coast people, who drove horses and carts through Jade City's streets to deliver goods and carry passengers. The other side was mainly made up of immigrants from elsewhere, many of them porters and laborers from the docks and warehouses, even sweepers and night-soil carriers, who sold pure physical labor for a living.

The two groups belonged to different strata and came from different origins, yet because their work overlapped, grudges arose. They had also had friction in the past, but under Jade City's strict laws, both sides had restrained themselves greatly. At most, they tripped one another up in small ways. They never dared cross the bottom line, much less fight with weapons in the most prosperous market street. Until...

"In the past, when conflicts arose between them, their respective leaders would sit down and negotiate," Miranda said in a deep voice. "But it is said that the leader of the cart-pulling group recently disappeared. As for the other group of porters, they are all temporary livelihoods, coming and going without any real leader. The only person whose face they gave respect to was the head of the night-soil carriers, and only he could speak among that group."

Glover nodded, his voice heavy.

"That fellow was called Roger, nicknamed 'Dung Egg'..."

"One of the leaders of the Blood Bottle Gang," Thales frowned, "the one who died in the internal strife?"

Glover nodded lightly.

"As for today's matter, we still do not have solid evidence proving whether the two sides truly escalated the conflict by accident, or whether some unknown force stirred things up behind the scenes. But..." Miranda added.

"There is no difference anymore," Glover shook his head. "I understand these people. After the Blood Bottle Gang had its incident, both sides lost their leaders and those who could speak for them. There was no one left to coordinate in the middle. A fight was only a matter of time. We simply did not expect it to grow this large..."

Thales fell silent.

He suddenly understood:

The Blood Bottle Gang's internal strife witnessed by Glover and Ralf, the one that pulled Boss Catherine down, had meant far more than a struggle for power or revenge.

"So whether it was coincidence or intentional, this matter ultimately began because of me. From the moment the Blood Bottle Gang fell into chaos, it was destined."

Glover and Miranda exchanged a glance, wanting to speak but stopping.

Thales took a deep breath and forced a smile at them, telling them not to worry.

For the rest of the time, His Highness the Prince rushed ceaselessly between the study, council hall, and reception room of Emerald Palace and the major government offices in the outer palace. He inspected and consoled, met officials, reassured people, and issued orders. Whenever he finally managed to sit down and thought he could rest for a moment, a large pile of documents and letters would always appear on the desk, requiring him to read, review, write responses, sign and seal, and compose replies without pause. He did not even have time to quietly eat lunch.

Even so, new unexpected matters, such as the tragedy on Luhsan Street just now, would always suddenly jump out and force themselves into his already packed schedule.

Exhausted, Thales could not help gritting his teeth and wondering:

As lord of the city and duke, was Zayen this busy before?

Yet misfortunes never came singly. Only a few hours after the prince returned to the palace, several officials hurried over to report again:

There was an anomaly in Jade City's prices. Market conditions had changed.

The matter had first been discovered by a tax collector while collecting stall fees. The people he collected from, the merchants, whether they were traveling peddlers from surrounding towns or even farther away who had hauled goods here to sell during the celebration, or local large shops and small stallholders who had hoarded goods hoping to make a small profit from tourists, had begun vicious price-cutting competition among themselves.

Both sold cloth. If you lowered by two coppers, I would lower by three. If you offered a discount when two pieces were bought together, I would put up three...

At first, such things happened only sporadically, limited to circles of four or five competitors in the same market. But after the tragedy on Luhsan Street, similar situations appeared in the markets of several districts.

Thales, who had been busy for half a day, had no choice but to suppress his fatigue and listen to the market officer's report. His expression grew more and more solemn.

Very soon, whether itinerant merchants, settled shops, workshops, or even many large merchant groups, everyone followed suit and began dumping goods in batches. From grain, meat, and vegetables to spices and cosmetics, from local specialties to overseas sea goods, nearly all commodities on Jade City's market, textiles, crafts, luxuries, and necessities, saw prices falling all the way.

Only when several market supervision officials sensed something was wrong and traced the matter through repeated questioning did they discover the problem:

At some unknown point, rumors had arisen in the city saying that the upheaval on Luhsan Street was merely a prelude. With the Duke of Star Lake's temperament, even refusing to drink wine, Jade City's political turbulence would probably soon affect the market...

As a result, many merchants were rushing to sell goods and clear inventory. For this, they did not hesitate to cut prices, preferring to sell at a loss in exchange for ready cash. There was even a merchant ship currently at sea on its way to Jade City, loaded with luxury goods. After hearing of the change in Jade City, the shipowner was deeply anxious and hurriedly sent a messenger crow to the warehouse, instructing it to pre-sell the ship's cargo at half price or even lower in order to avoid unsold stock and losses after docking.

"I heard that at the docks, there are even merchants throwing unsold goods into the street for free, letting anyone pick them up, or simply tossing them straight into the water," Miranda said with an ashen face after returning from making inquiries outside.

"These are all panic sell-offs. They are worried about political turmoil and pessimistic about future market conditions, so they are first ensuring they have sufficient cash in hand."

Several quarters of an hour later, Treasurer Myrahovich, who had hurried over after receiving the news, calculated accounts in the council hall with a tight frown.

"But Your Highness, if this continues, Jade City's credit and reputation along the trade routes will only grow worse and worse, and the market will only deteriorate further. The revenues on which Jade City's prosperity depends, transaction taxes, property taxes, customs duties, may all be cut in half."

"If Jade City's annual income falls, and we cannot ensure that next quarter's revenue exceeds or at least matches this quarter's..." the tax officer gnashed his teeth. "Damn it, we were still counting on using that to repay the debt!"

Thales listened until his head felt as big as a bucket.

"Gentlemen, this is only the lightest consequence," another experienced market officer said, sweating all over. "Listen to me. If this continues for a few more days, once the news spreads, merchants will have no profit to seek and will lose the motivation to do business in Jade City. Once the goods in the city have been dumped almost completely and no more goods flow in, the market will begin to decline. Next will be shortages of supplies..."

"Then what do we do?" Wya asked with a headache.

"Allocate funds. Act first to stabilize prices and maintain market stability," Treasurer Myrahovich said through gritted teeth. "Problems of money can only be solved with money."

"Then what about our debt..."

"Stop thinking about repaying debt for now. Get through the present first!"

"If it really does not work, borrow again. Use new money to repay old debt..."

"Then the debt will snowball larger and larger..."

"First guarantee stable annual income. As long as Jade City's rule remains stable, the debt will always have a way to be resolved..."

"Your Highness, has His Majesty sent a decree? Does he have any instructions on how to handle this?"

"Can Eternal Star City support our finances a little?"

"If it really does not work, could part of the taxes that must be handed over to the kingdom be waived..."

The council hall became a mess of arguments. Tormented by countless problems, Thales grew increasingly unable to endure. Rarely losing his temper, he had Mallos drive all these officials out.

"From finance to taxation, from markets to public security, I can see that none of them are doing their best. They are outwardly compliant while secretly defying us, dragging their feet, perfunctory, and shirking responsibility," Paul said solemnly as he closed the council hall door. "They may even be waiting to watch us make fools of ourselves."

"After all, the original duke only stepped down yesterday, and not in a very pretty way," Miranda sighed. "It is understandable."

"If they cannot handle affairs, can we punish them to kill the chicken and warn the monkeys?" Morgan snorted coldly.

"They have not openly defied orders or spoken disrespectfully," Storo shook his head. "At most, they are handling affairs perfunctorily and fooling around. That is far from a crime."

"Of course it would not count for ordinary people," Morgan made a vicious gesture. "But for these officials... hmph."

"Careful, everyone," Wya said, holding his notebook. "When encountering setbacks and disasters, blaming others is often the easiest thing to do, especially blaming those beneath us in authority, weak people with no power to resist."

He looked warningly at everyone.

"The Strategies of the Virtuous King says: abandoning the difficult for the easy is often the origin of tyranny."

"Ah, don't tell me that is another reference book from the Royal Guards' entrance test?" Doyle dug at his ear.

"Uh, no. This is my own extracurricular reading."

"Extracurricular reading? Damn."

Thales, seated at the main seat, rubbed his forehead and lamented his almost depleted energy. Hearing their conversation, he rarely smiled.

But before Wya could finish speaking, he was interrupted again.

This time, the person who came was the commander of the Jade Legion, Knight and Captain Cecil.

The Star Lake Guard immediately tensed and went on guard.

Fortunately, after entering the hall, Knight Cecil only cast a contemptuous glance at everyone. Then, according to the rules, he removed his weapon and handed it to old Genard, bowed in proper form, and reported to Duke Thales:

At every major checkpoint across the city, the Jade Legion had discovered that travelers, guests, merchants, and others who had come to participate in the Emerald Celebration were, at this very moment, packing up bundles large and small, one after another, scrambling to prepare to leave the city. Because of this, Jade City's port and land routes were packed with people and blocked solid.

Thales sighed deeply.

More bad news.

Everyone had eyes. Such behavior spread from one to ten and from ten to a hundred. The crowds rushing to leave the city soon caused rumors to rise in the city, saying that Duke Zayen's imprisonment and the tragedy on Luhsan Street were merely preludes. Soon, Emerald Palace would issue more measures and thoroughly investigate the details of the young duke's silencing case and the old duke's murder case. At that time, all of Jade City would be restless, and Prince Thales' fury was bound to burn fiercely.

The more Thales listened, the more he frowned.

Under such circumstances, more and more people rushed to leave the city. Shipowners and coach owners with vessels and carriages became highly sought after. The prices of tickets and seats to leave the city were being speculated higher and higher. Incidents such as selling fake tickets and taking the chance to raise prices occurred frequently, making the public security pressure facing Jade City grow heavier and heavier. The Security Hall and the Jade Legion complained endlessly.

Not good, Thales thought. If this continues, Jade City's decline and deterioration in his hands will only grow faster and become unavoidable.

Damn it!

"It is not only outside travelers and guests. I heard that many locals, even quite a few nobles, are packing their luggage and planning to leave Jade City for a time to avoid disaster," Komuto quietly added from the side.

"Disaster? What disaster? A calamity?" Thales asked helplessly.

"People are worried that Jade City's situation will be unstable in the coming days," Knight Cecil stared fixedly at him, "especially after the coup."

Yes. As if I am not worried too.

"But that was not a coup. It was just..." Thales explained weakly.

"I know. It was only a temporary personnel change in Jade City's administrative leadership, correct?" Cecil said coldly.

Thales sighed.

Why had he not become an administrative officer?

"All right. Then, with the people panicking and rushing to leave, how do we resolve this matter..."

Cecil nodded.

"We can restrict movement. For example, set up checkpoints at the entrances and exits and not let them leave the city..."

"No!" Thales and Mallos stopped him in unison.

The prince and the Watchman exchanged a glance.

"But it truly cannot continue like this. Panic will spread," Mallos said steadily.

Thales nodded.

"We must do something to stabilize the people's hearts and dispel their doubts."

The prince sighed, his head aching even more.

"Wya, take my warrant and go to City Hall. Urge them to post notices and release the news: starting tomorrow, the Emerald Celebration will continue as usual. What is the next event again?"

"The Sleepless Night Parade," Wya said, opening his notebook. "The main activities are all at night. Jade City will light lantern corridors throughout the city, and citizens will parade all night to commemorate Hyman and Regina's moonlit encounter amid war and chaos."

"Fuck, there was war and chaos, and still a moonlit encounter?" Thales, full of troubles, cursed very inelegantly. "How damn romantic."

No one dared answer.

"Also, summon the important vassals currently in Jade City, as well as the leaders of guilds and merchant groups. Their influence spreads across the South Coast. I need to hold a fifth meeting with them to stabilize the market, and preferably obtain commitments... Knight Cecil, you are still here?"

Thales raised his head in confusion.

Under everyone's gazes, Knight Cecil nodded slightly, his gaze like a sword.

"I heard, Your Highness, that you intend to disband the Jade Legion?"

Thales froze.

"Where did that news come from? How could that be possible..."

"Then why did you allow the Finance Department to divert our expenses, even the overtime rewards promised during the celebration?" Knight Cecil raised his voice.

The guards in the council hall grew tense.

Thales paused when he heard this.

"I assure you, Knight Cecil, I know nothing of this matter," Thales took a deep breath. "But I think..."

"It seems the news is true," Cecil interrupted him and snorted coldly. "After Duke Zayen lost power, Your Highness intends to divert Jade City's funds to support Eternal Star City."

Thales frowned.

Bad.

"And we people, those who wield swords, those who hold pens, those who do business... we are the price?" Knight Cecil slowly stepped forward.

Mallos took one step forward and said lightly:

"Captain Cecil, what are you doing?"

The surrounding Star Lake Guards looked unfriendly. One after another, they placed hands on weapons and formed a stance.

Cecil glanced at Mallos and narrowed his eyes.

"Knight Cecil, I swear to you, I have no such intention," Thales said as sincerely as he could, trying to dispel the tense atmosphere. "After all, the long-term peace and order of Jade City and even the South Coast Territory still depend on the Jade Legion's protection."

Cecil was silent for a while.

"Since that is so, Your Highness, please show your sincerity. Issue last month's wages to us and ensure my soldiers will not believe rumors and think they are about to lose their jobs," Cecil said coldly. "Moreover, my subordinates have worked twice as hard during the Emerald Celebration. If this month's wages can be paid in advance as encouragement, that would be even better."

"Hey! How are you talking-" Neshy began indignantly, but Paul held him down.

"The brothers in my legion may sell their lives and spill their blood, but they all deserve better lives," Cecil ignored him completely. Instead, he turned and walked toward the door, taking back his weapon from Genard. "Otherwise, Your Highness, you may find other people to maintain public security."

With that, he walked out of the council hall without the slightest courtesy or reluctance, leaving the door to slam shut behind him.

"Tormond, I will trouble you to take my letter personally to the Finance Department in the outer palace," Thales said, painfully rubbing between his brows. "Aside from the previous problems, tell them that no matter how they rob Peter to pay Paul, the Jade Legion's expenses cannot be reduced."

Mallos nodded slightly.

The people in the council hall looked at one another. Hearing this, they began speaking up for him:

"Your Highness, do not be afraid of him. Besides, those damned officials in the Finance Department cannot even calculate the accounts properly and are still having headaches over how to raise funds to stabilize prices..."

"The root does not lie in prices," Thales shook his head tiredly, feeling that everything currently happening was opposing him. "No matter how money is spent to stabilize them, it will be useless."

"Whether we believe it or not, from finance to taxation, then to markets, then to the public security issue just now," Mallos nodded, "if the Jade Legion also has problems, such as no longer obeying orders, or turning a blind eye when handling public security issues..."

Everyone's hearts tightened.

"I now understand these officials. I understand why they are perfunctory and inefficient," Thales sighed helplessly, having no choice but to pick up his pen and write another letter. "If they feel their futures are unclear and their positions are not secure, who the hell would still have the heart to work?"

Seeing His Highness like this, Wya was deeply worried, but he had no good method either. He could only slap his thigh hard.

"Damn it. Why is everything going wrong today?"

"Because we are big enough to attract the wind?" Doyle shrugged.

"Because they are doing it deliberately," Paul's gaze was deep.

"Because here," Miranda suddenly spoke, "we are all Eckstedt people."

Everyone froze for a moment, and Thales' pen tip also paused slightly.

"Genard," Thales remembered something and asked softly, "how did you win?"

At the council hall entrance, Genard was scolding Willow. Hearing this, he froze and came forward.

"Prince Thales?"

"You said today that when the Star Glory Legion first arrived at Blade Fief, it was badly defeated," Thales put down his paper and pen. "Then later, how did John turn defeat into victory?"

Genard hesitated for a moment.

"Run."

Everyone looked sideways.

Genard took a deep breath.

"We retreated, Your Highness. We fled in defeat all the way, leading the rebels to chase us. From Blade Fief we withdrew to the Central Territory, then from there to the South Coast Territory. Over several months, we trained ourselves in the skill of running and hiding. One moment we might be cooking soup over a fire, and the next we could pick up the pot and jog all the way. Ha, we could even cook the soup while running..."

"And the enemy, the enemy spread like wildfire. Their momentum grew greater and greater, their numbers increased day by day, and their ambitions gradually swelled. Their leaders even wanted to establish a country and crown themselves kings in Sodala City."

Genard gradually became distracted.

"When these rebels left their homes and no longer were the 'uprisers' everyone sympathized with, but the 'invaders' everyone hated, true 'foreign forces,' that was when it was time for us to counterattack."

Thales' eyes moved.

Genard lowered his head, and the nostalgia in his eyes turned into loneliness.

"And then, we won."

The council hall quieted.

Neshy was confused by what he heard, but Miranda's eyes lit up.

"Yes. Lady Sonya mentioned it to me. Worthy of the Star Glory War God."

"Oh, no," Genard came back to himself and corrected her. "This strategy was not first proposed by John, but by a great noble adviser under him. He came from the South Coast. His name was something Karabeyan."

Thales froze when he heard this.

"But this method," Wya could not help saying, "abandoning land and luring the enemy deep... Along the way, many people must have died, right?"

"Yes. Many people."

In that instant, the spirited feeling in Genard's words vanished without a trace.

"Many."

Thales pursed his lips, the emotions in his eyes unclear.

One hour later, under the puzzled gazes of the Star Lake Guards, Thales stood in a corridor, watching as the heavily guarding soldiers opened a path and unlocked a door for him.

Thales took a deep breath.

He waved to his subordinates, then stepped solemnly into this unusual room.

The door behind him closed with a boom.

Inside the room, a man sat at ease on a luxurious sofa, his back to Thales, pouring wine for himself.

"Twenty-eight hours."

Thales was stunned when he heard this.

"What?"

The man laughed softly.

"I mean, you endured until now before coming to find me..."

The South Coast Guardian Duke, Zayen Covendier, who was trapped at the center of the whirlpool, lifted a cup of famous wine and looked back leisurely.

"Not bad. You lasted four hours longer than I expected."