Chapter 685: Oh No! The Army and Navy Have Started Fighting!
"What a bunch of rabble-rousers, so easily incited."
In a certain manor in the countryside of the royal capital, a dozen newspapers were spread messily on the table. Besides that, there were seventy or eighty pamphlets, wall posters, and message notes of various sizes and paper qualities, piled into a small mountain of paper.
A hand, so pale it was almost transparent from lack of sunlight, reached out from a sleeve and stirred the paper pile. As the hand lifted, a dozen notes slipped through the fingers and scattered all over the table.
"It seems that many people in the royal capital dislike this Nordmark Mage and want him gone..."
"Does that mean we can act now?"
In the corner of the room, a thin, haggard man asked urgently. The previous person gently shook his head:
"Don’t rush, don’t rush. We shouldn’t expose ourselves right away—by the way, how is the commotion at the officers’ club?"
"The army is furious and is already rallying, planning to confront them soon." The thin man sneered:
"But the navy still hasn’t come to a conclusion."
"Interesting, their families are being bullied, yet they don’t want to stand up for them." The decision-maker sneered coldly:
"If they can’t come to a conclusion, keep stalling them. Don’t let them hold us back. By the way, what is the attitude of the officers of those troublemakers?"
"Lord Soren is accompanying the false king’s husband on a hunting trip and will be away for at least three days. Knight Remus’s mother is bedridden with illness and has taken leave..."
In other words, the officers of this group either tacitly approve or remain indifferent. It’s understandable, no man likes seeing his wife touched by others.
Even if he is the queen’s husband...
The conversation in the secret room grew quieter. Eventually, the candle flickered, and a spark fell onto the table, burning the newspapers and notes to ashes.
Once the spark fell, it was not easy to extinguish without intervention. Shortly after Nordmark received the warning, a large group of people arrived at his door.
"Remember, we are not here to cause trouble, but to seek justice for our suffering sisters." As they walked, someone in the crowd raised their voice to instruct their companions:
"So, no matter the situation, don’t harm the pregnant women or the newborns. You can smash things, but try not to hurt people. Ideally, force the person in charge to come out and make a promise to our brothers."
"What if he refuses to come out?" someone hesitated in the crowd:
"There are spellcasters inside. What if they attack us?"
"Don’t worry!" The leader assured.
"I’ve already inquired. Most of the spellcasters inside are priests from the Spring Goddess Temple. The temple hasn’t spoken on this matter, so the priests won’t intervene. Besides,"
He opened his coat, revealing something tucked in the inner pocket, which flashed briefly:
"We are prepared! As long as we withstand the first wave, don’t we have knights among us?"
With multiple assurances, the army brothers finally felt emboldened and marched forward with gusto. From a distance, they saw dozens of people standing timidly in front of the hospital’s iron gate, who shrank back into the alley as they approached.
"What are those people doing?"
"Who knows? Ignore them!"
The leader waved his hand dismissively. Immediately, someone knocked on the door:
"What’s the noise? It’s not time yet!"
A rough voice answered from inside the iron gate. The leader was taken aback and had not yet reacted when another voice advised:
"Never mind, it’s about time. Open the gate and let them in to pick up their wives and children—"
The voice had a strange accent, definitely from those northern barbarians. The leader spat and signaled his men to prepare to rush in as soon as the gate opened:
It’s easier to cause a ruckus inside than to break down the door!
With a long, grating creak, the heavy iron gate slowly opened. Then, the soldiers at the front raised their heads, raised their heads, raised their heads...
Who can tell him why the person opening the gate is so tall?
"What are you blocking the entrance for?"
Standing at the gate was Bernard. He pushed open the gate with one hand, holding a door bar—almost as tall as a person—with the other hand, pointing forward:
"Move aside, move aside! Let them pick up their wives and children! You, stop blocking the way!"
Without even using the stick to sweep them out, just pointing, the army brothers scattered. Bernard half-turned his body, his large frame and gentle voice contrasting sharply:
"Don’t rush, don’t hurry, take your time. Your husbands and families are waiting outside—Bruce, your wife and child are out! Come pick them up!"
After calling twice, someone timidly came out of the alley across the street. Bernard, holding the door bar, stood with another barbarian, scanning the crowd with sharp eyes:
"Why is he looking at us like that?"
"Yeah, does he think we would attack pregnant women?"
"We are honorable soldiers, not thugs!"
The army brothers whispered among themselves...
They still retained some honor and did not act, quietly watching as families, called out by the barbarians, emerged from the alley and gradually moved forward. They carried their wives and children, one after another, until it took more than half an hour.
"Everyone is gone! Brothers, charge!"
However, enthusiasm wanes with time. After such a long wait, their morale was somewhat lacking. Knocking on the door, knocking again, knocking once more, the noise was loud, but their shouts lacked energy:
"Come out! Come out!"
"How dare you treat military wives like this! Apologize! You must apologize!"
"Open the door! Don’t think you can hide in there forever!"
After a short while of knocking, the leader was considering climbing over the wall when a noisy crowd appeared at the other end of the street. Seeing them knocking, they quickened their pace:
"Hurry up! Hurry up!"
"Someone is causing trouble at the hospital!"
"Good thing we arrived!—Brothers, charge!"
Boom, boom, boom, boom, a group of young men rushed up, immediately throwing punches. The leader quietly retreated a few steps, commanding from the center while observing the newcomers, suddenly shouting:
"Why are you hitting us! That hospital is bullying your navy families, why aren’t you protesting, but hitting us instead!"
"Hitting you is exactly what we’re doing!" The newcomer threw a punch:
"That mage inside helped us resist the ’Sea Plague’ by inventing a new potion!" Punch;
"So we wouldn’t die from infections, he invented penicillin!" Punch;
"So we could survive on the battlefield, he wrote a battlefield first aid booklet and taught it to the War God priests!" Punch;
"So we wouldn’t bleed to death, he invented blood tests and transfusions!" An extra forceful punch!
"Even without pain relief spells, he at least saved Stephen’s wife! Avoiding a two-thousand-gold coin treatment fee! What more do you want! What more do you want!"
Punches rained down...
Inside the hospital administration building, Garrett smiled broadly as he opened the Arcane Eye for the visiting nobles.
"As you can see, this is the current situation of our hospital... huh?"
Oh no!
The army and navy have started fighting!