Dream Life Vol 3 Chapter 19.1: “The Beginning and End: Part One”

　July 13th, 317, in the Tria calendar.

　Last night’s rebellion by the 4th Battalion was successfully put down, and the frontier count and his family were not harmed.

　The Lockhart family was allowed to return to their assigned room after a brief interview by the First Order.

　Once in the room, the three magicians, myself, Liddy, and Sharon, fell asleep as we had run out of magic power and collapsed. Mine was due to [Fire Spider Threads – Fire Web], and Liddy and Sharon were due to [Ventilation – Air Purge]in the corridor after cleaning up and subduing the enemies in the garden, and even though we slept until after 8:00 am, we still had not recovered all of our magic power.

　In my case, it’s especially bad that I’ve been woken up once in the middle of the night. This is because the condition of Brett and Sid, the two village patrol swordsmen who were seriously wounded, their health had deteriorated and needed to be treated.

　Last night’s rain had stopped by mid-morning, and by the time we woke up, the sun was beginning to break through the thick clouds.

　Over a late breakfast, Beatrice and the others told us what had happened after we went to bed.

　To summarize Beatrice’s story, we learned that many knights had been affected.

　About 120 of the approximately 370 knights and squires in the 4th Battalion, excluding military personnel, were killed in last night’s rebellion.

　About one hundred and ten were seriously ill, including those suffering from severe oxygen deprivation, and half of them will not be able to see tomorrow morning, according to the report.

　In addition, there were about 130 people with minor injuries, such as mild oxygen deprivation and broken bones, and less than 10 people in the 4th Battalion were uninjured.

　On the other hand, the First Knights, the side that suppressed the battle, suffered only minor damage. Of the approximately 200 people who participated in the battle, five were killed in action and 20 were seriously or slightly wounded, which were minor losses for a battalion that was deployed in a May rainstorm fashion.

　The 4th Battalion’s heavy losses were largely due to the fact that it resisted to the end, refusing to heed any advice to surrender, down to a single soldier. On the other hand, the suppression side suffered only minor damage because the 4th Battalion’s command and order system was not functioning and there was no organized resistance, and because the unit that first entered was an elite unit under the direct command of the Knight Commander.

　The ringleader, Grenfell, commander of the 4th Battalion, was found unconscious on the way up the stairs to the third floor. But all the company commanders had been killed in action.

　Battalion Commander Grenfell regained consciousness after the battle, but he had no memory of last night and was speechless at the sight of the destroyed castle.

　Baron Brailsford, the First Knight Commander, severely interrogated Grenfell and the surviving knights. However, none of the knights had any memory of the time from dinner until after midnight, when they regained consciousness, and they had no idea why they had done such an outrageous act.

　The only thing that is known is that at dinner, Viscount Tysburn, the brother of the Frontier Count Roswell, and his confidant, Baronet Gateskell, offered them a bottle of wine.

　The wine was soon found, but there was no way to confirm whether it contained poison. They gave the wine to the rats they caught, but there was no change in them, and they could not tell if they were drugged.

　That said, there was no other possible cause. Therefore, Gateskell was taken into custody late at night when the commotion had calmed down.

　Immediately, the frontier count himself interrogated him, but he told him that he had brought the wine himself, that he had nothing to hide, and that if he wanted to drink it, he would show it to him.

　He gave him a sip of the remaining wine just to be sure, but there was nothing unusual about it, and Gateskell seemed unconcerned.

　The frontier count, considering the gravity of the situation, did not release him easily, but he was still troubled by the fact that no conclusive evidence could be found.

(Certainly the circumstantial evidence points to Gateskell as the ringleader, but there is no proof. Even in a world with inadequate laws, or rather, because of inadequate laws, it is impossible to punish the nobles without clear evidence. If they are punished badly, there will be those who will make a fuss that the punishment is unjust. Well, torture is another option, but it is doubtful that the frontier count would use that method…) (Zack)

　Even if Gateskell was the sole culprit, it would be difficult to settle the matter with a mere family feud.

　More than a hundred knights and squires of the First Order have died, not a few of them of knightly rank, and some of them were related to viscounts and barons.

　If this had merely happened because of the intricacies of the succession struggle, it would have been a matter of responsibility for the Frontier Count Roswell. In fact, many of the nobles in the imperial capital would probably be interested in the privileges and territories held by Count Roswell, and it was obvious that they would force the issue to develop into a political one.

　Furthermore, there is a strong possibility that public support for the Frontier Count will be undermined. The Frontier Count will want to make this a conspiracy from enemies outside the country.

　However, among the parties named this time, the only one outside the country is the Ouellette Trading Company of the commercial city of Aurella. They only purchased weapons from the bandits who attacked us, and there is no evidence that they were involved in this rebellion.

　If Lux Holy Kingdom, the official enemy of the Caelum Empire, were involved, they would probably make a big announcement, but so far we have found no connection to Gateskell.

(This case has nothing to do with politics, and I will not be satisfied unless the matter is settled properly. At the very least, they messed with my family and friends. I can’t forgive them for just any reason…) (Zack)

　Then we heard from Dan as well. I hadn’t heard the details of how the Knights moved, how they opened the castle gates, and so on.

　Of course, I had heard a thumping sound coming from the gate, but it was not a heavy sound like a battering ram, and I could not imagine how they had broken down that sturdy gate.

“It was the sound of the Dwarven blacksmiths’ hammers.” (Dan)

　No matter what Dan says, it doesn’t make sense, “No, no matter how powerful the dwarves are, they couldn’t have made a sound that loud by themselves,” I said.

　Dan looks stunned for a moment, but then nods and smiles, like he understands.

“That was the sound of twenty hammers.” (Dan)

　I shake my head in disbelief.

　Dan, perhaps amused by my expression, happily informed me, “It was timed perfectly, it’s true.”

　I was amazed at the skill of the dwarves who could swing the hammers at exactly the same time without any training or discussion, and at their stamina to keep swinging for more than ten minutes, but I was more amazed at their determination to challenge that massive door, no matter how heavy the hammer was for a blacksmith.

“I was really surprised. I went to check the gate later and found that the steel hinges were completely broken. It was such a big hinge.” (Dan)

　Dan explained, indicating with his hand that it was about fifty centimeters in diameter.

　It seemed that the dwarves had destroyed the gate by repeatedly applying force to the shaft pin of the hinge hinge.

(As expected of blacksmiths… I guess it was possible because they weren’t attacked from above the castle gate, but it’s still an amazing plan… I owe the blacksmiths. They were willing to risk it all to help us and take on the castle gates…) (Zack)

　As I was thinking about this, Dan seemed to remember something and exclaimed, “I forgot!”