"Do they no longer regard me as their King? Do they no longer take the entire Nobility into consideration? Who do they think they are, hmm?" Leite VII smashed the glass in his hand onto the floor, cursing furiously.
In front of him, the Prime Minister too had a grim expression, silently staring at the military officer who had brought the message. They had just reached an agreement with Tang Mo and obtained enough munitions to defend themselves from him.
But then, someone had gone ahead and killed the Earl with an assassination attempt. This put them all on edge, beginning to seriously question the loyalty of those in their own kitchens.
No one desired to hide a gun under their pillow while in bed with a woman, and no one wanted to worry about being stabbed by their partner in the act.
Similarly, no one wanted to suddenly collapse with a stomachache mid-meal, nor did they want to taste the bitter flavor of almonds in a sip of fine wine.
This was about a trust crisis within the entire Nobility, as well as a matter concerning the safety of the whole world.
"It's not necessarily Shireck... Such matters should be investigated... a bit more," the Prime Minister managed to utter at last, indicating his position.
The more tense the situation, the less one should lose one's composure. Although Shireck was a suspect, it really wasn't clear who was behind the act.
From the perspective of the King of the Leite Kingdom, even though Shireck had the potential to poison, Suthers seemed to have reason to take action also.
Even Tang Mo, with whom they had cooperated, did not seem entirely above suspicion. After all, if he intended to take control of the Northern Ridge, Count Fisheo was indeed a critical target. By eliminating Fisheo, Tang Mo could indeed cut himself a piece of the chaos in the Northern Ridge.
Hence, they couldn't direct all their hatred towards Shireck right now; it would best serve their fundamental interests to place themselves in an invulnerable position.
"Now we cannot act rashly; it's best to wait for a conflict to break out between Shireck and Tang Mo, or simply for them both to suffer, and then we can profit from the situation," the Prime Minister advised King Leite VII.
Finally, Leite VII managed to calm his rage and sat back on his throne: "What should we do now?"
"There's not much we can do; the Northern Ridge is like a powder keg right now, ready to explode with a single spark. We just need to wait," the Prime Minister repeated the word 'wait' again.
His Majesty the King seemed somewhat dissatisfied with this passive approach and continued to inquire: "Can't we take the opportunity to seize some benefits from the chaos in the Northern Ridge?"
"Do we want everyone to suspect that we were the ones who poisoned Count Fisheo to death?" the Prime Minister counter-asked his King.
Leite VII also realized that trying to gain advantages at this time seemed a bit irrational, so he cooled down and began to think about how to deal with the turmoil in the Northern Ridge.
But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't come up with a way to reap benefits without giving himself away.
While he was deep in thought, a Knight rushed in. After taking a glance at the silent Prime Minister, he approached the side of King Leite, and reported in a low voice, "Your Majesty, we have definitive news: Tang Mo... has gone to the Northern Ridge!"
"What did you say?" Upon hearing his words, the Prime Minister was first startled, then stood up with a look of shock. He had not anticipated Tang Mo to be in such a hurry to head for the Northern Ridge.
Could it be that... He even started to suspect that the poison might not have been administered by Shireck or Suthers, but by Tang Mo himself...
"Tang... Tang Mo has already arrived in the Northern Ridge... he has already seized control of Wolf City. As for his specific actions, that is still unknown," the officer replied nervously, seeing the excitement of the Prime Minister.
As the news of Tang Mo's arrival at the Northern Ridge was reaching King City, Tang Mo had actually already arrived in Ice Crystal City.
He merely glanced at a few officers who had come upon hearing the news, then took command of Ice Crystal River. The artillery commander here was his student, and the commander of the Infantry was an old subordinate of Tagg's.
Having taken military control, Tang Mo immediately began to address various tricky issues: "First of all, I want to announce something to everyone present."
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Tang Mo then solemnly declared, "Coming from Wolf City, both the Great Tang Group and I will support Miss Ronin Alice of the Ronin Family with the utmost determination in taking charge of all military and political affairs of the Northern Ridge... Does anyone object?"
Everyone in the room remained silent, creating a very solemn atmosphere. Tang Mo was in no hurry, instead waiting patiently for someone to step forward.
The result was not the appearance of someone opposing him, but those who agreed. The first to stand was the artillery commander of the legion, who lifted his chin and declared his position, "I firmly support Lord Tang Mo's decision!"
"I support as well!" On the other side, the infantry commander quickly stood to support, saying, "I also support Miss Ronin Alice becoming our new Lord Earl!"
He was loyal to the Ronin Family; if asked to support Tang Mo's control over Northern Ridge, he might have been ambivalent, or even engaged in some covert sabotage, but continuing his support for Alice posed no difficulty whatsoever.
In fact, just moments ago, the majority of those in the room had been worried that Tang Mo had come to Northern Ridge to seize his own interests.
If that had been true, they really wouldn't have known what to do. They were aware that Tang Mo's influence in Northern Ridge was not insignificant, as demonstrated by his ability to take control of Wolf City in a single night.
If Tang Mo genuinely called on arms, demanding Northern Ridge to become his vassal, the leaderless Northern Ridge Group might have indeed become a peach ripe for Tang Mo's picking.
Now, however, it seemed that Tang Mo had come to support Ronin Alice, which evidently allowed everyone to breathe a sigh of relief. Although there were doubts about whether Alice could continue to lead the development and growth of Northern Ridge, they subjectively favored Alice more.
"We will do our utmost to assist Miss Alice," declared the personal butler of the Lord Earl, as he stood out to support Tang Mo, "For Northern Ridge!"
"For Northern Ridge!" The others in the room echoed the sentiment, which immediately lightened the atmosphere considerably.
Tang Mo nodded and spoke his thanks, "Thank you all for supporting Miss Alice! I hope each of you, like you have assisted the late Earl Fisheo, will offer your loyalty and talent to the new Earl of Northern Ridge, Ronin Alice."
"We will," the group promptly promised Tang Mo, "Northern Ridge will continue to move forward under the leadership of the new Earl, Ronin Alice."
Looking at the vassals of Northern Ridge, Tang Mo knew that the handover here was nearly complete. Thus, he shifted the topic to the aftermath pertaining to Fisheo, "Has the Earl's body been cared for?"
"The weather is still quite cool, so there are no major issues. His appearance has been respectfully managed; he looks very peaceful," replied a servant who worked for the Lord Earl, standing in the corner, answering Tang Mo's question.
Tang Mo gave a slight nod and then issued further instructions, "Have the carriage ready. After we finish here, I will personally escort the Earl's body back to Wolf City."
"The funeral rites for the Lord Earl must be conducted with the utmost care. Money is not an issue; the scale must be grand, and those in attendance must be of high status! Understand?" Tang Mo asked this question as he surveyed everyone present.
"Understood!" All the officers, along with some attendants of the Lord Earl, immediately responded. It seemed they had already accepted Tang Mo as their de facto commander.
After arranging the Lord Earl's posthumous affairs, Tang Mo immediately inquired about the Earl's assassination, "What are the results of the investigation into the Earl's murder?"
"My lord," an officer stepped forward upon hearing this, replying to Tang Mo, "We have investigated the maid who committed the act. She has been an old hand around the municipal hall, having been a Suthers person all along."
"Why wasn't she replaced? Is there any reason?" Tang Mo furrowed his brow, questioning the other party.
"Her family is in Ice Crystal City, all with a clean background. Previously, we were short-handed and kept some local servants and maids," the officer explained regretfully, "She was scheduled to be replaced, but she was very competent..."
"How could such foolishness happen in the security work of the Lord Earl," Tang Mo hummed with frustration.
"We relocated her family and provided her with a resettlement fee. No one expected she would... do this." The officer's voice trailed off lower and lower, "She seemed totally normal every day, and having received money to improve her life, she had no... no reason..."
"In fact, she did it, and she succeeded," Tang Mo cut off the explanation, then continued to question, "Have her family members been taken into custody?"
"No..." The officer shook his head with some regret, showing he was not particularly adept at these matters.
"Hmm?" Tang Mo's piercing gaze swept over, finding the officer's response in this area slow. There was a moment when he even began to suspect the officer's loyalty.
"By the time we got there, they had all died," the officer explained with his head down, "The maid had a younger sister, a younger brother, and her parents; all were found dead at home, with none spared."
"They were wiped out?" Tang Mo knew that someone might cover their tracks with murder, but he had not expected it to be done so swiftly and decisively.
"Yes, all were killed. Our soldiers arrived at the scene around three hours after the incident," the officer responded.