Claude took the letter with him upstairs and read it to his bedridden mother. Upon hearing that there was no need to worry about Morssen’s life, she could finally feel the burden lift from her chest and grew more energetic. Only after asking Claude for more details for a good moment was she willing to let him off.
He went to the study on the first floor and looked out the window to the crowded streets in deep thought. He was faced with one problem: whether to tell Eriksson of the nightmarish raid by the pirates that eliminated the trading fleet. During the two weeks he lay in bed, Eriksson had recovered considerably and could more or less move about by himself.
However, his mother Eilina said that Eriksson was still in a testy mood. He asked around nonstop for news of the fleet and didn’t spoke not another word about anything else. He would spend most of his day sitting by the window and looking out in the direction of the docks.
Perhaps Eriksson already had a hunch of the misfortunes that greeted the fleet. For the fleet to not return a week after the new year meant that it definitely wasn’t because of bad weather or some minor delays. It would be nothing but lying to himself to believe that the fleet was fine and would return soon. Many people in Whitestag were worried, but they didn’t show it. The reason nobody brought it up often was because around three hundred households were involved in the fleet. Their family members were sailing with the fleet too.
The seven long distance transport ships, Captain Altroni’s Shark of Red Sea, as well as eight other ships were manned by around 300 sailors, crew and guards. To ensure that the trade route was kept secret, the fleet picked their participants from the townsfolk. Claude was well aware that when the official news broke, what kind of large wave would come sweeping into town…
It still wasn’t known how many survivors could return to town. Perhaps that was what Captain Altroni considered before he gave the order to surrender after they were no longer able to resist the pirates. He wanted to try to retain as many lives of those that sailed with him as he could. But he didn’t think that not only did the pirates not release them after they finished all the pillaging, they even forced them to join their troupe. People who refused like Captain Altroni were left on an uninhabited island to fend for themselves.
If Claude really told Eriksson about the matter, he wasn’t sure whether the latter could withstand that shock. It would be horrible if his condition worsened because of that. Claude gave it much thought and decided to keep it secret and let things play out naturally. When the news breaks during the third month, Eriksson should have recovered enough to withstand that level of shock by then.
Another four days passed at a snail’s pace. Madam Ferd had recovered about halfway and could already do some simple chores in the kitchen. Claude went to the national bank and withdrew another three crowns. This time, he did so for his sister’s school fees. She would be attending the first year of middle school the next year and the twelve thales of fees and two thales for meals and books had to be paid before the 15th.
As long as their father wasn’t released, Claude had to bear the burden for his family alone. Since he promised his sister to take care of it, he followed up on it. However, that only left a crown and two thales inside the account Maria opened for him. He would be working the next year at the wood for practically nothing because he had already withdrawn a year’s worth of salary.
I don’t know why I was so stupid… Why didn’t I take some money for myself back at the den? After seeing how happy his sister was when her fees were paid for and thinking about his impoverished state, he wondered whether he should go seek trouble with Blacksnake to earn some more money.
The 15th of the 1st month, was an important day for Whitestag, as two things occurred on that day. The first was that the prefectural capital approved of Mayor Robert’s plan to form the garrison. As expected, the third one he proposed, where the owner of the fish-processing plant, Bidlir Blanche, would be the sponsor of the garrison clan, was chosen. To commend Bidlir for taking the initiative to help out, he was named the leader of the fourth band and was given the right to pick its members.
However, the old policy makers in the prefectural capital were still alert enough to not agree to let Bidlir Blanche take care of the maintenance of the garrison clan. Instead, they gave Whitestag a tax cut of thirty percent, which amounted to around a thousand crowns, to be used as the maintenance funds for the garrison. If it wasn’t enough, the town hall could rely on donations from the townsfolk for it.
Currently, the town hall was quite busy and sported a merry atmosphere. Baron Robert, the mayor, gave an impassioned speech and celebrated the fact that Whitestag now had its own defensive force.
The boss of Blacksnake and owner of the fish plant, Bidlir Blanche, received the letter of appointment from the mayor. The formation of the fourth band was declared there and then. A group of Blacksnake gang members cheered with great joy.
Welikro’s father and the number-one hunter in Whitestag, Kubrik, came with some other retired veterans and watched the ceremony coldly from the sidelines. Even though they were opposed to the mayor’s plan of forming the garrison, the decision was already made at the prefectural capital. They were powerless to do anything about it and could only follow what was set. They were retired veterans after all and the formation of the garrison clan had to include them.
As the mayor gave away one letter of appointment after another to the retired veterans, Kubrik’s face darkened progressively. He didn’t hear his name in the end. Even the limp postman, Borik, got appointed as a communications officer. Yet, Kubrik wasn’t appointed. It was apparent that the mayor had intentionally sequestered him from the garrison.
Robert didn’t leave all the retired veterans out of the garrison because that would only provoke suspicion. He might even be complained about and arrested as a result. So, he let most of the others off and only chose to deal with Kubrik. He would simply use the excuse that Kubrik had poor temper and was unfit for training the new recruits to kick him out of the garrison clan.
The appointed veterans then set up a recruitment booth in the town plaza. If Kubrik had been made a bandsman, Welikro might’ve signed up on the spot. Being able to serve his hometown in a time of need was a great honor for him. He could endure hardship and would soon bloom in the garrison and earn the post of a low-ranked officer. Many of the veterans saw promise in him after all and he would definitely be cared for in the unit.
But now that his father wasn’t appointed and couldn’t serve in the garrison clan, Welikro also lost all interest in applying to be a member. He followed his father home sullenly.
Claude felt that the recruitment had nothing to do with him. Morssen had been arrested on the charges of threatening national security, so as the second eldest son of the house, there was no way he would be conscripted. The kingdom’s law mandated that members of the garrison had to have clean records. Even innocent family members of criminals wouldn’t pass that requirement.
It was said that many people watched Bidlir Blanche closely to see what kind of people he would recruit into the fourth band. If he brought in the thugs from his gang just like that, many reports would no doubt be filed on him.
But he was no fool. If he were, he wouldn’t have become the boss of the gang. He knew clearly each and every step he should take. So, he set up a recruitment booth at the slums and greatly promoted the recruitment drive. The Blacksnake members that were picked to join the fourth band were mostly thugs that didn’t leave records with the town constables for their minor infractions, much to the disappointment of those waiting to get the pounce on Bidlir.
Apart from the formation of the garrison clan, the other huge occurrence was the arrival of an envoy from the royal capital. Not long after he entered the military encampment, he declared that Morssen and his associates were alleviated of the charges by the grace of the wise and benevolent Stellin X and released all of them.
But before their release, Morssen and the others were harshly reprimanded. They were told that their greed had caused the kingdom’s trade ships great losses, so Morssen and three other officials were relieved of their positions in the administration, but they got to keep their dignitarian status.
In contrast to the formation of the garrison, the release of Morssen and his associates were talked about far more. Many people came forward to greet them, intent on finding out why they were released. However, Morssen and the others were not in the mood to bother with the busybodies, so they called for carriages to drive them home respectively.
Claude almost couldn’t recognize his father at first glance. Morssen was 52 and he used to look energetic and well-dressed and behaved with an air of elegance. He was the staple of what middle-aged bureaucrats should look like. But after some ten days of imprisonment following his capture, he looked ten years older, despite not having been interrogated and beaten and being well fed throughout his arrest. He looked only about as energetic as a 60-year-old geezer would and much of his hair had whitened.
Even so, Claude’s mother was overjoyed that Morssen was released in one piece. She orbited him like a satellite, tending to his every need and constantly asking him what he wanted to eat. Even the snowhound that didn’t like him so much before went over to sniff his pants before lingering by his side.
After finishing the breakfast his wife lovingly made, Morssen went to bathe and change into his sleeping robes. Then, he called Claude to his study and asked about what happened during his arrest. Angelina had told him quite a bit during his meal, mainly about the horrible things Arbeit did and how happy she was about being able to attend school as usual.
Claude told his father everything without leaving out a single detail. He didn’t exaggerate the matter concerning Arbeit either and spoke about it as it truly was. Though, he did say that he went around to ask for Arbeit’s whereabouts and heard people mention his presence at the brothels of the old street. Claude didn’t go out of his way to find him there.
Other than that, he handed Maria’s letter for him to see. When Morssen read about the trading fleet being attacked by pirates and Captain Altroni’s surrender, he sighed deeply. He looked out his window worryingly without a word. After a long while, he snapped out of it and waved for Claude to go outside, saying that he wished to be left alone for a while.
Madam Ferd was worried that Morssen would feel down and depressed about being fired and hoped that Claude could accompany him more. However, Claude believed that his father would definitely be able to overcome his hurdle. He thought that his father’s position as chief secretary of town wasn’t much to brag about anyway. Given his father’s capabilities, he might be able to lead an even more fulfilling life after being relieved from his position. That was how Claude consoled his mother about it anyway.
During the afternoon, he went to the wood for a patrol before driving the carriage back home. He didn’t think that he would see the fool, Arbeit, kneeling on the ground while hugging his father’s feet as he cried. Claude’s rage flared immediately and he wanted to go wallop him on the spot. Surprisingly, he was stopped by his own mother.
She said, “Don’t blame your brother. He has his own reasons for doing what he did. He was only trying to save your father and only ended up tricked by someone else.”
Claude’s wore a complete look of surprise. “Mother, do you even know what you’re saying?”
