Chapter 258: Accusation I
The deadly silence in Purple Juniper Hall lasted only two minutes. Apart from Buffy Marshall, who was completely unprepared, the other eight lords, including Emperor Kleiwo, had already digested Miss Shuangye's 'information'. Gongxin Fernand, sitting in the first seat to Kleiwo's left, clumsily stood up from his chair (no mistake there), his eyes flickering as he looked at Grand Duke Marshall directly opposite him, his hands clutching the parchment trembling slightly…
“Controlling two large-scale slave-hunting groups, each with at least four-digit members, operating at least three times a month, occasionally hiring unregistered adventurers to assist, directly connected with over a dozen notorious bandit groups within the empire such as the 【Meat Grinder Group】, 【Miasma Group】, and 【Foul Blood Group】, and directly collaborating with the Holy Church United's Tier-2 wanted undead Archmage 'Voiceless' Oro and Pain Sorcerer 'Ghostfire' Lavender… Ba… Buffy, is what it says on here true?!”
Fernan stammered through two paragraphs, his high-pitched voice somewhat distorted, his whole body trembling like a sieve, his goldfish-like brown pupils wide open, as if he could faint at any moment.
“Of course not!” Grand Duke Marshall stood up excitedly, forcefully poking the parchment in front of him, which contained the same content, and laughed exaggeratedly: “Two slave-hunting groups of over a thousand people? Mine? Haha, do you all think that’s realistic? Not to mention why I would do such a thing, if the Marshall Family truly controlled two utterly depraved teams for over a decade, and made them act several times a month, would you all really not find out? You should know that the Buffy's Sword Knights only has a scale of fifteen hundred people. Frankly speaking, I believe that in each of your studies, there is a detailed record and roster of the 'Buffy's Sword Knights', 'Mercury Guard', and 'Ice Curtain Mage Corps', right? What do you say, Grand Duke Fernand?”
Gongxin Fernand was stunned for a moment, then immediately shook his head in a panic: “How could I have…”
“Alright, alright, this is nothing to be ashamed of, my friend.” Buffy chuckled and shook his head, shrugging his shoulders very frankly: “Although we are always united under the flag of the Empire, necessary preparations and precautions are indispensable. While such matters are usually not discussed openly, it’s not an unspeakable thing to have some eyes and ears planted in each other’s territories. I am also very clear about the basic intelligence of Fernan’s Assault Team, the Lightning Brigade, and the Quicksilver Ranger Corps~”
Grand Duke Fernand gave a dry laugh, then shook his head and sat down: “You are right, Buffy.”
“Of course I am right.” Grand Duke Marshall calmly adjusted his collar, then turned to look at the still smiling orange-haired young woman: “If Xi Luo and Grand Duke Fernand are as well-informed, then he would certainly know the specific military deployment of our Marshall Territory. If I were truly frequently mobilizing people to do something… heh, like slave-hunting, then none of you present would have any reason not to receive news. Or rather, do you believe that those fictitious slave-hunting groups are actually composed of civilians or ordinary soldiers with no combat power whatsoever?”
Shuang Ye slowly shook her head: “Civilians and ordinary soldiers do not have enough strength, courage, or loyalty to do such things.”
Grand Duke Marshall then sat back down in his chair. He looked with a half-smile at the item in front of him that had made him tremble with fear a minute ago, and let out a long sigh: “If that’s the case, Miss Shuangye, if you are willing to admit that this thing in front of us is just a little joke, I would be very happy to forgive your baseless accusation against a Grand Duke.”
Shuang Ye smiled sweetly: “Idiot, you’re dreaming.”
Everyone present was startled, then all subconsciously looked at the petite, delicate-faced, elegantly-tempered young woman.
“I’m sorry.” Buffy Marshall’s face became somewhat gloomy, and his voice gradually turned cold: “What did you just say?”
Shuang Ye smiled sweetly again: “Idiot~”
Including Vernon Baloka, who still hadn't fully believed Grand Duke Marshall, and Aimilin, who had a good impression of Shuang Ye, everyone present showed displeasure. After all, they, like Marshall, were top nobles of the Empire, and Shuang Ye was, at most, merely the representative of a lord who was on par with them. By all accounts, she had no right to openly insult a lord in such a setting, especially in front of so many lords.
“Thump!” Marshall slammed the table hard and shouted: “How dare you…”
“You just talked about military deployment and dispatch issues within your territory, right?” Shuang Ye interrupted him with a sneer, her eyes filled with tangible malice. She wiggled her small hand: “Alright, then I’ll just briefly mention three points first~”
Grand Duke Marshall snorted, angry but still maintaining his composure: “I’m all ears, but… if you can’t explain yourself…”
“Alright, alright, I get it. Burning at the stake, hanging, beheading, slow slicing, burying alive, dismembering, pulling out fingernails, poking eyes, whatever makes you happy, okay~” Shuang Ye rolled her eyes impatiently, then extended a middle finger: “First, point one, don’t think that what’s on this paper is everything. In fact, it’s at most a highly compressed catalog by yours truly, so please do not speculate on the information I possess based on those things, otherwise your pig-liver face will definitely swell to bursting~”
Marshall’s heart instantly skipped a beat. He felt a slight chill down his spine, as if he saw a long-planned and well-prepared scheme gradually surfacing.
“And so, that leads to the second point: I know exactly how your slave-hunting teams came to be.” Shuang Ye unhurriedly extended the middle finger of her other hand, wiggling it at Grand Duke Marshall opposite her: “The reason is actually very simple. Those henchmen working for you behind the scenes are indeed well-trained and highly skilled elites, but they are not members of the Marshall Territory’s three regular legions~”
Grand Duke Marshall clenched his fists: “Absurd! Do you think that if I extensively recruited soldiers and horses, gathering those desperate individuals to secretly form a force of several thousand people behind the scenes, none of you present would discover it? You know everyone keeps an eye on each other…”
“Keeping an eye on each other to see if anyone is developing in a sneaky way, I certainly understand that.” Shuang Ye nodded leisurely, her two raised middle fingers still steadily pointed at Buffy Marshall’s face: “Hmm, I won’t beat around the bush. Actually, those slave-hunting teams are members of Grand Duke Marshall’s three legions.”
Grand Duke Simon frowned slightly: “Your words are clearly contradictory.”
“Indeed, but if you add a ‘former’ to that sentence, it becomes logically sound~” Shuang Ye wiggled her index finger at Grand Duke Simon, then quickly switched back to her middle finger and aimed it at Buffy Marshall again: “Am I right, you scum~”
Marshall twitched the corner of his mouth: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Alright, then we’ll discuss your intelligence issues later.” Shuang Ye cutely pushed up her glasses with two fingers, and as if reciting on a stage, she spoke loudly with extremely clear intonation: “The initial number of this slave-hunting team was very, very small, but as time went on, your three legions continuously rotated their members. Those veterans, whether loyal, greedy, threatened, inherently base, or with their weaknesses exploited, left their original formations under reasons such as retirement or death in battle, and were then transferred to a new job, continuing to diligently serve their lord~”
The young woman finished the above statement in that extremely affected and annoying tone, then playfully winked at Buffy Marshall: “Am I right?”
“Nonsense!” The latter flatly denied, saying coldly: “Ultimately, you are merely speculating. Can a ridiculous, specious inference prove the existence of these so-called ‘slave-hunting groups’? It’s not only my Marshall Territory that has standing legions; everyone present here meets those conditions. So, in the end, this is nothing more than an utterly foolish slander.”
“Don’t be so impatient.”
Shuang Ye seemed a little scared, shrinking her body and timidly touching her middle fingers together: “I haven’t finished yet~”
“I don’t want to hear your nonsense anymore.” Buffy narrowed his eyes darkly, and said sharply: “You will now…”
“Penelope Bell.”
Shuang Ye suddenly softly uttered a name.
Buffy frowned: “What are you sayi…”
“Roger Jorkins.” Shuang Ye ignored him, simply continuing to recite in her clear and pleasant voice: “Oliver Quist, Dennis Baggman, Ludo Krivy, Gram Planmorkin, Ernie Finnegan, Barro Sinista, Louis Aragog, Millicent Flint, do these names ring a bell? If not, I can recite many, many more~”
Buffy suddenly felt a chill that made his hair stand on end. Although he didn't know who these names belonged to or what they represented, he was very clear that every word the young woman had said since the beginning was completely factual, without the slightest error!
But at this moment, he could only endure the immense sense of crisis and pretend to be relaxed, shaking his head and saying in a deep voice: “I have no idea what you’re talking about, little girl.”
“Alright, then I’ll be more specific.” Shuang Ye whistled, looked around, and after seeing that everyone was listening quite attentively, she cleared her throat and said loudly: “Roger Jorkins, former member of the Buffy's Sword Knights, Mid-Tier Armed Knight. Five years ago, he retired from the Knight Order after an anti-bandit operation due to a ‘recurrence of old injuries’. His hometown is Hamilton Town in Marshall Territory, and his home is at 17 White Stone Avenue in Banana Leaf City. However, this honorably retired knight has maintained a strange routine over the past five years: returning home once every six months and seeing his wife once a month, being several times busier than when he was in the Knight Order. And, interestingly, every time he returned home to see his wife, he would bring back a large sum of gold coins, an amount far exceeding any income a Mid-Tier Knight could obtain through any conventional channel.”
Grand Duke Crystal Wolf blinked thoughtfully: “You mean…”
Grand Duke Dengtis, guessing the former's thoughts, shook his head slightly: “This doesn’t prove anything.”
“Agreed.” Grand Duke Hussein also chimed in, raising an eyebrow at Shuang Ye: “There are too many ways to make big money, little girl~”
Buffy Marshall merely smiled slightly, sending a collective look to everyone that conveyed, 'These two have already said everything I wanted to say.'
“Of course that doesn’t prove anything.” Shuang Ye also smiled, her two slender, pale middle fingers still steadily pointed at Grand Duke Marshall’s face: “But what if there isn’t just one person like Knight Roger? What if there are hundreds or thousands of such examples? What if people who should have died in battle abroad or been strolling the streets all day were sighted at various accident scenes? What if these people had several secret strongholds disguised as official Marshall Family businesses? What if I have as much evidence of this kind as needed?”
After a silence that felt very long to Buffy Marshall…
Grand Duke Baloka was the first to look up from his contemplation, his gaze burning as he looked at the ashen-faced middle-aged man who shared his status: “If this is truly the case, then the theme of our meeting might need to change.”
“Vernon, you wouldn’t actually believe this little girl, would you?” The pale-faced Grand Duke Marshall forced out a dry laugh, turning to look at the single-minded knight who had inherited the Baloka surname: “Based solely on her one-sided story?”
Aimilin, who had a good relationship with Vernon, shook her head and whispered: “If Miss Shuangye does indeed possess certain ‘evidence’, then her words might be more than just a one-sided account.”
“Aimilin, young Aimilin Kristoff, Grand Duke!” Buffy glared at her sharply, his composure and elegance from ten minutes ago completely gone: “I thought you would be smarter!”
The latter stared at the Grand Duke, who was her uncle's generation, without being servile or overbearing, and said in a deep voice: “It’s just a possibility. I haven’t believed her, at least not until I know the truth of the matter!”
“Alright, everyone quiet down.”
Emperor Kleiwo, who had been silent since Shuang Ye and Grand Duke Marshall began their confrontation, stood up. He looked at Aimilin with a tired but stern gaze, then gave Buffy a warning look. After both fell silent, he fixed his gaze on Shuang Ye, and after a long sigh, he picked up the parchment in front of him and slowly said: “This is your true purpose for coming here, or Grand Duke Fireclaw’s true purpose, isn’t it?”
Shuang Ye smiled nonchalantly: “Yes.”
“The so-called epidemic isn’t actually that serious, and it has nothing to do with manpower issues, right?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been deceiving me all along, right?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Does that even need to be said~”
Shuang Ye suddenly burst into laughter, an unbridled, shaking laugh, with only her two middle fingers, firmly fixed on Buffy Marshall, held steadily in mid-air…
“Of course, it’s to make this person who displeased me… Pfft, no, no, no~ It’s to make this universally hated scum suffer eternal damnation~”
Chapter 255: End