Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 464 - 79: Mental State

Chapter 464: Chapter 79: Mental State

The atmosphere in the camp became increasingly tense.

On one hand, life was truly suffocating. Since the military marketplace had been forcibly closed, soldiers and knights had lost their only place for recreation. They could only stay in their tents all day or be sent out to the battlefield, combating machines that knew neither pain nor the value of life and death.

On the other hand, there were rumors spreading like wildfire. It was said that a knight had been killed by an infiltrating synthetic assassin who then stole his face, and, disguised as the knight, the assassin had killed thirteen comrades before being discovered.

This rumor swiftly sowed panic within the ranks. Although the higher-ranking knights reiterated that it was just a rumor, the Blade Warriors, who were intensely checking everyone at the checkpoints, hinted at a genuine infiltration.

Who could be certain that the comrade they were living with hadn’t been silently replaced by a steel monstrosity?

Under such tension, one day in a tent, a soldier got into a heated argument with his companion and ended up pulling out a gun and shooting him.

This soldier, who had taken the life of his comrade, was quickly subdued by the arriving knights and soon became one of the hanged corpses outside the camp. However, similar incidents continued to occur in other areas of the camp.

Most were the consequence of violent outbursts under pressure, but a few were secretly coordinated, directing resentment and accusations toward the higher echelons – the knights, the dukes, and even...

The Emperor.

However, none of this concerned The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps.

While others slept in cramped, dark, damp tents, struggling to sleep amidst the snores and teeth-grinding of their tentmates, the girls were comfortably sleeping in the estate on Fire Island, in the large beds of their cozy bedrooms.

While others stayed in the camp to the point of boredom, only able to clutch their weapons and sit on wooden stakes, casting suspicious glances at the superior-ranking knights who walked by, the girls were planting flowers, training in martial arts, reading, or studying the weapons gifted by two Demigods on the sunny Fire Island.

As a reward for helping with the conquest of Salmatia, the Wilderness Bear Mason had sent a shield allegedly mixed with a material called Chaos Rock. This material from the Abyss was a hybrid between living tissue and mineral that could recoil when damaged by external forces.

War God Leopold’s reward was a Short Knife made entirely of azure-colored glass material, which, of course, was not ordinary glass. Through special forging techniques, it had developed a stress distribution of external compression and internal tensile forces. Its dense structure could withstand direct gunfire, and it was extremely light to handle.

These rare weapons made of special materials provided a significant boost to The Azure Longsword Team—after all, ordinary steel weapons were just too fragile on a battlefield dominated by firearms.

The shield was given to Eleanor, and the Short Knife to Mia.

"Ellie has been acting a bit off lately," Nora expressed her concern, "She’s been training more and more intensely, almost ceaselessly studying that swordsmanship, Aske..."

"I know," Aske replied, "Have you read her mind?"

"No," Nora said with a reproachful look, as if to ask, "Do I seem like the type to casually pry into someone’s thoughts?"

And then she read Aske’s silent counter-question in his mind, "Aren’t you?"

In any case, Nora’s point was clear; they needed to have a serious talk with Ellie, as her mental state was deteriorating.

After searching the entire Fire Island without a trace of Eleanor, they teleported to the Real Plane and found Sigrdrifa, who was in charge of preserving Ancient Books for the day.

"Have you seen Eleanor, Sigrdrifa?" Nora asked her.

Sigrdrifa was sharpening her battle axe—although the North Wind Axe was so hard that it couldn’t actually be sharpened, she was still idly grinding it on a whetstone, and she said:

"She went to attend the family meeting."

Only then did the two of them remember that every day at four in the afternoon, the Weisbach family held a family meeting, and Eleanor, as a member of the family, was of course supposed to attend.

The situation in the Bavarian Duchy had not been optimistic recently, either. The higher-ranking knights reported that a widespread war-weariness had emerged among the soldiers, and a few days ago, some squads had even attempted to sneak out of the camp to escape, but were caught and brought back by His Excellency the Sealing Furnace Fire.

Having deserters was bad enough. It was said that just this morning, three knights from the Duchy of Franconia, along with dozens of soldiers, had lain in ambush at the Emperor’s camp entrance, attempting to forcefully persuade His Majesty through a show of arms.

Although this presumptuous military remonstration was quelled by the Blade Warriors immediately, it nevertheless greatly agitated the Emperor’s paranoia:

The Duke of Franconia was first to be imprisoned, his knights all taken in by the Blade Warriors, and those who were restless were even executed on the spot by hanging.

Secondly, a large number of scribes organized by the Blade Warriors began to station themselves fully within the armies of various dukes to act as supervisory officers.

According to the Empire’s original feudal system, the Emperor, as a liege lord, was not supposed to bypass his vassals to manage the military forces of his vassal’s vassals.

But now, if His Majesty the Emperor really decided to act wilfully, no one could do anything about it. Therefore, the Weisbach family, like the other great families, had already started urgent discussions on how to deal with the Emperor’s drastic actions.

The two of them arrived at the entrance of the Weisbach camp, planning to wait for Eleanor to come out, only to see Eleanor at the entrance, arguing with her second elder brother, Henry.

"You don’t understand!" Henry said angrily, grabbing his hair, "I’m a graduate of the Imperial Military Academy, a reserve member of the Blade Warriors! Under these circumstances, I can only stand with His Majesty!"

"Did His Majesty tell you to capture our family’s knights?" Eleanor was furious.

"It’s not a capture! It’s an inspection, an inspection!" Henry explained impatiently, "These knights have left the camp recently! And you’ve seen those Synthetic Assassins that can disguise themselves at our father’s place, haven’t you? Can you guarantee that these knights who left the camp haven’t been silently replaced by Synthetics?"

"I’ve also left the camp recently! And I was with two Demigods from Thuringia and Carinthia, no less!" Eleanor said coldly, "Why don’t you capture me and the two Demigods as well, revered Blade Warrior Your Excellency?"

"You and the Demigods are obviously different." Henry didn’t know how else to explain, "But these knights... I can’t take that risk."

"That’s right!" He suddenly remembered something, "That means, the other members of your team have also been out with you recently? Are you sure they have not left your sight the whole time?"

"Henry!" Eleanor nearly exploded, "If you dare to lay a hand on my companions, I will never let you off!"

"I got it, I got it." Henry said helplessly, rubbing her head as he had done countless times to soothe his angry little sister when they were younger.

However, he quickly realized that the knight lady before him was no longer the little sister who used to tag along behind him.

"Where are they being held?" Eleanor was also stunned for a moment, before she started smoothing her ruffled hair and sighed with a question.

"In the Blade Warriors’ prison." Henry shifted his gaze and saw Aske and Nora approaching, "I’ll take you there."