Work Prophet
Chapter 555 - 173 Duren’s Warning

Chapter 555: Chapter 173 Duren’s Warning

The chest of the Imperial Forest Guard Captain heaved violently; his eyes seemed ready to spew flames as he glared unyieldingly at Little Thumb.

Little Thumb had a strong premonition; he believed that the next moment, Sir Duren would unsheathe his longsword and cleave off his head, prompting him to involuntarily retreat two steps.

But, ultimately, the Imperial Forest Guard Captain managed to contain his emotion, and he re-sheathed the longsword at his waist.

Seeing this, Essos also returned to his previous position.

At this time, Minister of Military Affairs Ollis demanded, "Sir Duren, did you just draw your sword in front of His Majesty?"

"I am the Imperial Forest Guard Captain, and I have the right to bear a sword within the castle," Duren replied, neither humble nor overbearing.

"Yes, the right to ’bear’ a sword," Ollis emphasized the two words in the middle, "Even you cannot simply draw your sword without cause before an imminent threat arises."

Duren was silent; he could argue that he felt threatened by Little Thumb just now, but lying with his eyes open was not his forte.

"It seems you do not deny the crime you’ve committed," Gars spoke from his throne of bones, "Then hand over the Red Gut first."

The Red Gut was a masterpiece forged by the greatest Dwarf artisan a millennium ago, the ceremonial blade of successive Imperial Forest Guard Captains, as well as the symbol of their office.

By demanding Duren hand over the Red Gut, Gars was effectively stripping the latter of his current position.

Duren appeared to struggle, but in the end, he handed the treasured sword to the guard who approached him.

Seeing this, Gars finally revealed a smile, knowing it signified that the overall situation was settled, despite it costing him no small amount.

Thinking this, Gars couldn’t help but cast another glance at the Priest of Cornelia not far away.

He had always been somewhat wary of this woman, not only because of her immense influence among the Royal Capital’s nobles and commoners, or her various mysterious methods, but more importantly because Gars could never guess what this woman truly wanted.

She traveled thousands of miles to this Continent, this city, following power, clinging to power, yet seemingly deliberately keeping a distance from it.

What she sought was different from the other people in this grand hall.

Gars hadn’t thought of relying on the power of the Life Church; unlike his father who almost always listened to Cornelia, Gars was very wary of ecclesiastical power.

He even considered inviting Li Yu to stay in the Royal Capital, as it appeared that only the equally mystical Double Rest Sect could balance out the Life Church.

But now, that issue was resolved.

Gars glanced again at Allister, his youngest brother; he wondered if the other’s luck was good or bad.

The New Emperor ultimately decided to stop overthinking and looked down once more at Duren at the bottom of the stone steps.

"Do you have anything else to say? My offer still stands; if you can provide even the slightest valuable information about the Late Emperor’s death, I will consider waiving your flogging, and even the disrespect you just showed me. If you have any witnesses, you may bring them forward."

Even if Duren was sluggish, by now he understood he’d been outmaneuvered; his investigation over the past few days, every move he made, had been under the watchful eyes of his opponents.

While he still had a witness he could summon, it was now meaningless and might only bring danger to that person, similar to the current uncertain fate of Fat Cat.

Seeing Duren remaining silent, Gars had no intention of waiting any longer, especially since the legs of "lucky" Jerome, on one side, had already begun to tremble.

Perhaps because he was too old and had stood too long, his strength was waning. If it hadn’t been for Duren’s interruption, he would have already placed the crown upon the head of the New Emperor and gone to rest.

Gars didn’t know if he could muster the energy to lift the crown if he waited any longer; hence, he waved his hand, signaling to the guards beside him to take Duren away.

But at that moment, Duren suddenly opened his mouth again, "I haven’t finished speaking."

However, the assembled nobles had grown weary of his mad ramblings. As he spoke, a chorus of mockery and laughter spread through the crowd.

Everyone was hoping for this farce to end quickly.

Unperturbed, Duren raised his voice, "They assassinated His Majesty to plunge the Empire into chaos."

"Who?"

"Those Wing Tribe people. They’re already close to Bratis, and they could attack our coastline at any moment. That’s also why Moen came to participate in this martial contest."

"He wants to claim victory in the martial contest, to further demoralize us and prepare for the looming great battle. They want us to feel fear."

"That’s just more of your baseless speculation!" the Minister of Military Affairs, Ollis, snorted disdainfully. "Aside from that Birdman named Moen, there hasn’t been a second creature with wings on its back on the Continent."

"Even if they really intend to attack us, such a large fleet can’t cross the sea without making some noise. The trading ships would have surely noticed them by now, but we’ve received no such intelligence. This means they are still far from us."

"The third one," the Lady couldn’t help herself.

"What?"

"You just said that the Continent hasn’t seen a second creature with wings on its back, but actually, there has. It would be more accurate to say the third," Miss Rabbit clarified, seeing the Minister of Military Affairs glaring at her.

"A Wing Tribe member named Gabriel had already appeared in the West, and he brought a Dragon Egg, hatching a Black Dragon. Fortunately, that Black Dragon was later slain by Prophet Merlin, me, and Ferdinand."

"She speaks truly," a representative from the Figrola family, an old man with white hair but still exuding an impressive presence, said.

"All right, so there were only two," Ollis said with scorn. "We have no need to be alarmed."

Gars, too, felt that the Minister of Military Affairs made a lot of sense. A cross-sea expedition was a very risky affair, with too many threats at sea.

Especially for two continents so far apart, it would be quite an achievement for the last fleet to have fifty or sixty percent of its people reach their destination, and complete annihilation was not uncommon.

Moreover, the commotion would be undoubtedly significant, not something that could go entirely unnoticed.

Gars said to Duren, "Are you dead set on linking the murderers with those Wing Tribe people?"

"Because that is the truth," Duren said. "The accusations I made against you earlier may not have been very stringent, but there definitely is someone inside the Imperial Family colluding with the Wing Tribe.

"I think it is unwise to hastily coronate a new Emperor without a thorough investigation of the matter."

"Here we go again."

Without waiting for Gars to speak, someone was already shaking their head—this time, it was the head of intelligence.

"You are spouting nonsense again, Sir Duren. It’s the same problem as before, how do you plan to prove what you’re saying? That sensational prophecy of war... Lord Ollis was right, we haven’t even seen the third Wing Tribe member to this day.