Part 6 THE LIGHT-SEEKER Chapter 90 “The Tide”
Earl Hall awoke at that most customary hour in the early morning hours and took a walk within his own garden and on the lawn.
By the time he had finished looking at a couple of his beloved thoroughbreds and returned to the third floor of the villa to change into his going-out clothes, his wife, Caitlin, had also risen and was instructing her personal maid to communicate the arrangements she had just thought of.
”Time for breakfast.” Earl Hall stood beside the coat rack and spoke to his wife with a smile.
Just then he heard a clamor from outside, and it grew closer without subsiding.
Frowning slightly and unnoticeably, Earl Hall glanced sideways at his valet.
Without the need for this great noble to speak, that valet immediately walked over to the window and pulled open the remaining layer of muslin curtains.
After a brush sound, more light shone into the bedroom, and it was crystal clear.
That valet then cast his gaze out of the window and swept his eyes left and right for a few moments before his expression suddenly became grave.
He turned back and glanced at the countess who was still talking to the maid, walked quickly to Count Hall’s side and lowered his voice:
”Parade! Many people are marching!”
A parade? Earl Hall was not unfamiliar with this term at all, as a great nobleman of Ruen and the second largest shareholder of the Constanton Coal and Steel Consortium, he had seen many times that workers had gathered and marched to demand for an increase in weekly wages and maximum labor hours, and in the last one or two months, several marches and protests had erupted in Bekeland due to various issues, but they had all been quickly calmed down without causing much of an impact.
Moving his eyes back and forth across the face of his valet for a few seconds, Earl Hall’s eyes narrowed slightly, keenly aware that today’s parade might not be quite what he thought it would be.
Without moving, he moved forward to the window.
With a glance, Earl Hall’s eyes suddenly froze.
With the advantage of being on the third floor, he saw that the road in the distance was black with people, who gathered together and surged in this direction, like a huge dark cloud that was going to envelop Bakerland.
”Bread!”
”We want bread!”
The cries of thousands and tens of thousands and even more people converged together, gradually becoming loud and clear, causing Earl Hall’s scalp to tingle slightly when he heard them.
In Memorial Day Square to participate in the High Mass and other activities, it is not that he has not seen so many people, not heard a voice superimposed on the words, but at that time, he is barely considered in the crowd, is part of the whole, but today, he is the raging “tide” one of the targets.
Earl Hall couldn’t help but look at the back of the parade, and realized that there was no end to it at all, however, with his rich experience in business, he could make a judgment based on some details he observed.
The police and soldiers he could see on either side of the procession were very few, as small as the waves of a rising tide compared with the mass of the crowd.
Earl Hall was sure that the march against Queens would have been controlled in the strongest possible manner, and would not have been without a large number of soldiers and policemen being sent over, and the present state of affairs could only mean one thing:
There were simply too many people involved in the march!
So much so that the soldiers and police were spread too thin!
A march of over 100,000 people? Maybe more than that …… A march due to food shortages could turn into riots and looting at any time …… It seems to be in order now …… Because there are many organizers and leaders! What’s going on? Hell, didn’t MI9 or the major churches pick up on any of the signs? How could a march of this size be organized overnight? Even if Berkland had turned into a powder keg, it would take quite a few matches to set it on fire! Thought after thought flashed within Earl Hall’s mind, his expression growing more and more grave.
”Bread!”
”We want bread!”
That cry became more and more neat and louder, as if a tsunami had appeared in the city.
At this moment, the men and women servants and maids within Earl Hall’s mansion all sensed the commotion and came to the windows, looking out the front door.
Their faces turned pale in a whirlwind, as if they had encountered a dike-breaking flood and could not avoid it themselves.
”Bread!”
”We want bread!”
Countless voices mingled together, and the black-packed heads brought an extremely oppressive feeling.
Earl Hall jolted awake, and subconsciously had to find someone to shoot a telegram to the royal family, so that they could organize an army to come and suppress it.
But when he did further observation, he realized that many people in the parade were wearing military uniforms and were physically disabled.
”Bread!”
”We want bread!”
The soldiers maintaining order looked at the parade sympathetically while on guard, their guns all pointing to the sky.
Those people included their past comrades, their parents, wives, and children, their friends and neighbors, as well as a large number of, living, breathing, people just like them, just trying not to starve to death, so how could it not make them feel compassionate and full of sympathy?
Such emotions might have initially arisen only in the hearts of five or six soldiers and policemen, but they soon spread to almost everyone.
In the past, under the supervision of an officer’s pistol, they would have definitely accepted all orders numbly, but now, what was going through the minds of quite a few people was:
Which son of a bitch dares me to shoot him, I’ll shoot him and fuck him!
”Bread!”
”We want bread!”
In a single cry, in the shock brought about by the large crowd gathering, Earl Hall’s face turned a little whiter.
He couldn’t help but retract his gaze to the guards and bodyguards gathered outside the house, and to the Black Night Church Extraordinaires around him who were responsible for protecting his family, and found that both had different reactions.
The guards and bodyguards were filled with awe, the expressions of some of the Extraordinary Ones he had hired hidden inside had become quite serious, and the protectors of the Church of Darkness had more than a little sympathy and compassion in their gazes.
To the church, I may be equivalent to a thousand believers here, while there are tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even more …… Count Hall instantly produced such a realization, and had a clear perception of what consequences would be brought about by what he was prepared to do before:
Even if armed to the teeth, only a small number of guards, but also simply can not fight against so many marchers, once the outbreak of conflict, the black night church of the extraordinary can not be counted on, their own family in the hired bodyguards to escape from Queens even if the goddess favored!
For the first time, Earl Hall experienced the power of many people, and the terror of so many people converging.
Between thoughts of electricity, he instantly turned his head and instructed his personal manservant:
”Shoot a telegram to the Prime Minister, shoot a telegram to the other nobles, saying that I am willing to take the lead and donate the vast majority of the food!
”Please make sure they remain calm!”
As the airwaves flew and were exchanged, the nobles residing in Queens were made aware of Earl Hall’s attitude.
The current Duke Negan looked out the window with a grave expression, remained silent for a while, exhaled, and said to the male secretary beside him:
”Protect the mansion, give up the tough stance, and follow Earl Hall’s lead.
”Also, take that group of grain hoarding merchants as an example first!”
When the upper class had initially reached an agreement and had a plan to deal with it, Earl Hall’s heart finally fell back to its original position, and he had the spare energy to head to the dining room and meet up with his family.
As he passed through the door of the dining room, he subconsciously swept a glance inside.
His wife stood by the window, looking out worriedly; his eldest son kept pacing back and forth, looking very angry and agitated; his daughter stood beside his wife, extremely quietly watching the parade moving forward like a tide.
……
Misty Sea, The Future.
Gadelia stepped on the long, radiant bridge condensed with starlight and returned to the deck.
”Captain, you must control Frank this time!” Nina, the head sailor, was the first to rush forward, shouting at the top of her voice.
Kadriya’s melancholy and sad mood was broken at once, and she frowned slightly:
”What did he do again?”
Nina said with an angry look on her face:
”He asked if I would have children, he wanted to study how life is conceived and how souls are created!”
”…… Did you hit him?” Gadelia said after a second of silence.
”Beat it!” Nina didn’t hide it at all.
Gadelia then turned her gaze to Frank, who wasn’t far away, ignoring his snotty state:
”You might as well study fish reproduction first.”
”Okay.” Frank scratched his head and obeyed the captain’s orders.
Gadelia then nodded to Heath Doyle, the pale “Bloodless”, who had grown out of the shadows of the cabin:
”It’s all right.”
Heath Doyle visibly relaxed:
”Aye, Captain.”
With the crew so rattled, Gadelia finally returned to the real world, rubbed the corner of her forehead when they weren’t looking, and flew into the captain’s cabin.
Then, she closed the place with magic and took out the “Wishing Lamp”, which ranked high among the “0” level seals.
After making the preparations, Gadelia sat down behind the desk, lowered her head, and chanted the name of Mr. “Fool” in the Giant’s language to report the matter of the “Mystic Queen” to K.
Klein, who was surveying the terrain around the ruins of the northern city-state with a horse lamp, looked sideways and listened for a few seconds before following the process and entering the gray mist.
He sat down in the high-backed chair belonging to the Fool at the top of the mottled table, and spread his spirituality to the crimson star representing the Hidden One.
”The ‘Queen of Mysteries’ has preliminary clues about the primitive island, and intends to leave the safe channel and conduct a wide-ranging, long-term search. ……
”That primordial island was discovered by chance by the Great Emperor Rossel, and it is likely that one of his nine secret tombs is hidden on it …… This is the only one that has not been discovered and destroyed so far, and it is where the hope of the Great Emperor’s resurrection and return lies ……
”However, the beings of that primordial island seem to be worshipping unknown forces originating from the stars, which can be polluted by mere knowledge …… have to remind Ms. ‘The Hidden One’ to write a letter to caution the ‘Queen of Mystery’ ……
”‘Wishing Divine Lamp’ …… ‘Wishing Divine Lamp’? It turns out that this ‘0’ level seal is in the hands of the ‘Queen of Mysteries’…… It is made by combining the extraordinary characteristics of the ‘Miracle Worker’ and the characteristics of its mysterious origin. It is a combination of the ‘Miracle Worker’s’ extraordinary characteristics and mysterious origins, and even the true gods can’t shatter it. …… “Klein had just finished listening to the matter of ‘0-05’, and immediately adjusted his viewpoint to show the kettle-shaped golden “Divine Lamp” to the public. “The image of the kettle-shaped golden lamp was zoomed in.
Suddenly, the wick in the mouth of the kettle of the “Wishing Lamp” lit up on its own!