allonlinenovel Chapter 215 Legal Issues
Chapter 215 Legal Issues
After receiving the king's order, the civil servant did not dare to neglect it and immediately walked out of the palace gate. As soon as he walked out, a noble suddenly grabbed the civil servant's shoulder and asked in a pleading tone:
"May I ask when will His Majesty the King send troops to quell the rebellion? My territory is about to fall into the hands of the rebels!"
The commotion at the palace gate soon attracted the attention of other nobles, including ministers in carriages, who rushed to the palace gate, expecting the king to issue an order to mobilize troops to quell the rebellion.
Seeing more and more people gathering at the palace gate, the guards immediately stepped forward to separate the civil servants from the noble ministers. Looking at the anxious and frightened eyes, the civil servant paused and then said loudly:
"Everyone, the entire Midland Kingdom is in turmoil right now, and the king no longer has any troops to dispatch."
After hearing this, the crowd fell silent at first, and then a greater riot broke out a moment later. A very small number of elderly nobles screamed and fainted after hearing the news. Some nobles were still unwilling to give up and asked the civil servants to inform the king of their plight, hoping that the king would conjure up an army out of thin air to help them quell the rebellion.
A small number of them knelt on the ground and covered their faces and cried. After all, the reason why they were able to squander in the royal capital before was because of the territory that could continuously provide them with a large amount of tax revenue. Now the territory was being ravaged by bandits, rebels and other people they hated the most. Even if the territory was finally returned to their rule, they would probably no longer be able to enjoy it in this way.
Seeing the chaos at the palace gate, the civil servant hurriedly shouted:
"Everyone, everyone! Although His Majesty the King cannot solve your problems, let me tell you that the Black Watch Mercenaries are in Milo Territory, not far from Windham. If you want to save your territory as soon as possible, please go to Milo Territory and hire them. Otherwise, please wait until His Majesty the King has solved the problem before speaking to you."
After saying this, the civil servant turned and walked into the palace, leaving behind the noble ministers who were blocked by the guards at the door.
"So, are we really going to look for Black Watch? I heard that anyone leaving Windham will get the plague." A noble said in fear.
“It’s terrible to lose my life, but if I lose the territory inherited from my ancestors, I will be the sinner of my family.” An old noble with white hair and beard said this and got on the carriage. As the coachman waved the whip, the carriage started slowly and rushed towards the gate of Windham.
Seeing that some nobles had gone to look for Black Watch, the remaining nobles made their own decisions after some ideological struggle. They might die, but they could not let those rebels take their territory.
So, to the suspicion of the guards at the city gate, carriages carrying different family crests rushed out of the gate of Windham. Under the overcast sky, a large number of carriages accompanied by guards headed towards the distant Milo County. After a cloud of dust, all that was left for the guards at the city gate was their backs and the criss-crossing wheel tracks on the ground.
"squeak!"
A pitchfork pierced through the body of a mouse, and the person holding the pitchfork was a man wrapped tightly in black clothes and wearing a mask on his face.
Looking at the rat still struggling on the pitchfork, a man dressed like him next to him took a pitchfork and stabbed it at the rat's head. As the man exerted force with both hands, a big hole was immediately pierced in the rat's head and the rat stopped struggling at the same time.
"Huh - another one." A man in black said as he shook the rat on the pitchfork into the wooden barrel beside him. Looking at the pile of rat corpses in the barrel, he couldn't help but complain:
"I became a mercenary to fight in wars and make money, but now I'm catching rats for others."
"You should be content." A mercenary next to him stopped him and continued:
"It's not like Lord John owes you any money. We are doing such an easy job and getting a normal salary. Just be happy."
The two men walked towards one direction while talking. In the distance in that direction, wisps of smoke were rising from an open space. Many black Watch mercenaries, dressed like the two men, were coming here with barrels filled with rat corpses, and throwing the rats in the barrels into giant fires.
"Drive! Drive!"
At this time, a convoy of noble carriages from Wendam passed by the road beside the clearing. The large scale of the convoy caused most of the mercenaries present to pick up their weapons and be on alert, fearing that these people might attack the Black Watch station not far away. Only those mercenaries who had been stationed in Wendam looked at the convoys that had gone away with a puzzled look on their faces, wondering what these dignitaries who were domineering in the capital were doing in this remote place.
The soldiers guarding the garrison quickly stopped the carriages. A nobleman who got off the carriage took a look at the fully armed soldiers and immediately said:
"You all come with me, I'll hire you all."
Hearing these words, the Blackwatch soldiers were all confused. What do you mean, just follow you? An officer then reacted and realized that the soldier was hired to hire.
“Hello, our master said that no form of employment contract will be accepted during the plague.” The officer explained in a gentle voice.
But the nobles flew into a rage after hearing this, and shouted at the leading officer:
"You have established a mercenary group but you don't accept hires. Are you raising so many soldiers to rebel? Let me tell you, we are here to hire according to the will of His Majesty the King. If you don't obey, you are all traitors and troublemakers!"
Looking at the unreasonable nobles, the officer had the urge to beat them all up and then wrap them in sacks and throw them into the river, but he still ordered a soldier next to him and said:
"Call Captain Charlie and tell him that there is a large group of nobles outside the door who want to hire us."
After a while, Charles, who had a shiny bald head, came with a group of soldiers. After listening to the whole story, he said to the nobles around him:
"Everyone, it's not that we sincerely don't want to accept your employment, but if we accept your employment at this time, it may be against the law."
"Think about it, everyone. Although those rebels have occupied your city, some of them are still nobles. If you kill a noble, you will be breaking the law."
"Secondly, your territories are more or less in other people's territories. If we bring so many soldiers in without permission, wouldn't that be illegal entry into other people's territories?"
"If you really want to hire me, then please ask His Majesty the King to temporarily revoke these laws. The purpose of our mercenary group is to provide services to customers without violating the law. If you cannot accept this, please leave."
After listening to Charlie's explanation, the nobles immediately thought that this reason was far-fetched, because since ancient times, there have been many mercenary groups that illegally entered other people's territories and killed nobles in wars. Although it is illegal, as long as they did not kill after being captured, unless they were nobles with relatively high titles, everyone would just turn a blind eye.
But the fact that the law is not enforced does not mean that it does not exist. The nobles thought about it and realized that at least on the surface, the Black Watch Mercenary Group only accepts contracts that do not violate the law. Other contracts will be rejected even if they only violate a small law. If this is the explanation, it is not impossible.
Thinking of this, the nobles had no choice but to take a carriage back to Windham and continue to ask the king to temporarily withdraw these laws at the gate of the palace.
After hearing about this series of events, the king was a little bit amused and helpless. After all, it was rare to have such a law-abiding mercenary group in such troubled times. However, abolishing the law for this reason would most likely cause a civil war in the kingdom.
Suddenly, an idea came to the king, so he sat down at the table and started writing.
The next day, the residents of Wendam woke up to see royal notices posted everywhere:
"My subjects, at this time of national crisis, some nobles have joined forces with foreign forces and illegal armed groups to cause incalculable damage to the country and its subjects. Now, in the name of the country and God, I will take back all the titles and territories of these rebels and offer a reward for them. I hope that with the unremitting efforts of my subjects, the Kingdom of Midland can return to the right track as soon as possible."