Free Web NovelChapter 428: Chapter 425: A Rousing Welcome
Horse-drawn carriages were certainly not as convenient as Magic Energy Air Cars. The horses needed to rest, and as the party traveled through the night, they were on high alert with every gun loaded. However, their taut nerves were never tested, and the entire journey was perfectly safe.
They traveled from afternoon until the crack of dawn the next day. The Prime Minister noticed that the road between the two locations was exceptionally smooth. Combined with his spacious and comfortable carriage, he simply decided to get some sleep.
When he awoke, the edges of the forest and fields were already tinged with the pale light of dawn. He opened the window, and a cool breeze blew in, waking the old man completely. He asked the guard riding alongside the carriage, "You’ve worked hard. Were there any incidents on the road?"
"Nothing, my lord. Except for a few strange, rather large birds that just flew past."
The Prime Minister didn’t understand why ordinary fowl would alarm a guard. "Birds?"
"They were also quite fast... but they didn’t circle or linger above us."
"Perhaps a flock of geese in formation... Has the weather turned warm early this year?" Otto considered this seriously for a moment. His secretary had already handed him a hand warmer and boiled eggs. Otto passed two of the eggs to the guard. "Here, eat these. You’ll need the strength."
"Thank you, my lord."
Aside from the Prime Minister’s carriage, the rest of the convoy was low-key. In addition to the cargo wagons, they had rented a few extra carriages for the guards and servants to rest in shifts. The party had traveled through the night; the Prime Minister’s plan was to catch that mage by surprise.
The road conditions were good enough that the Lord Chancellor could rest on the way and was now ready to get to work. He even considered moving to a less conspicuous carriage to secretly investigate Kempson and its Steel Factory.
However, just as they were about to reach Kempson, the convoy halted. The guard, his mustache dotted with egg yolk, knocked on the carriage window, his face tense.
"What is it?"
"There’s a large group of people up ahead."
"Is it the city’s defensive checkpoint?" The Prime Minister was about to have his secretary go and negotiate, but the guard requested he see it for himself. Opening a crack in the carriage’s front window, the secretary peeked out first, then reported back with a strange expression. "It’s a lot of people... a *lot* of people. My lord, you should see for yourself before deciding."
With both of them saying so, the Prime Minister had no choice but to look. He couldn’t understand what kind of scene would make even his secretary indecisive.
And then he saw...
"Welcome, welcome! A warm welcome!" Both sides of the road were packed with an enthusiastic crowd, waving artificial flowers of purple and crimson. Though standing by the roadside so early in the morning was unpleasant, the combination of paid time off from the factory, a day’s wage for being an extra, and a free breakfast had convinced people to drag their families and friends out of bed to earn some extra cash.
Rorschach, of course, had his own selfish reasons for building the road. It first connected to the Kempson New District and the Steel Factory. Naturally, there were plenty of justifications for the slow progress of the road towards the old city: too many buildings on the planned route, difficult demolitions, high relocation costs, trouble managing the public...
The secretary continued to observe. "The crowd is on both sides, and they seem to be cheering. They aren’t blocking the road... Should we proceed?"
The Prime Minister didn’t answer immediately. His attention was drawn to a banner stretched across the road above. Two large balloons flanked a long strip of red cloth with large white characters forming a slogan: "A Warm Welcome to the Empire’s Prime Minister, Lord Otto, and His Delegation on Their Visit to Our City!" In the bottom right corner, smaller text read: "From the Kempson New District and the Kempson Steel Factory." The balloons were painted with the Kempson City Emblem and the factory’s corporate logo, respectively.
The Prime Minister was startled. ’My movements have been exposed? And they even arranged a welcoming party...’ His trip to Kempson had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, and he’d even traveled through the night. This scene could not fail to astonish him and his entourage.
Among the welcoming party, the one in the lead was Mr. Bart, the rotating chairman of the Autonomous Committee, Kempson’s temporary Town Mage, and a Military Mage for the Third Legion’s Second Infantry Division. He was dressed in a Magic Robe and even wore a bow tie.
"How do I look?" he couldn’t resist asking Andre.
Andre sized him up carefully. "Lord Bart, everything is fine. Your arrangements are nothing short of perfect. There’s no need to be nervous." He was a little surprised. This lazy young master who usually lazed about in his Mage Tower had actually organized this event so cleanly and efficiently, mobilizing the residents of the new city at the most inconvenient time and with incredible speed.
The Apprentice hadn’t realized it before, but it was Mage Bart who had led these refugees to their new home and helped them find a new way to live and support themselves. In the New District, the young man was trusted even more than Rorschach. In fact, Rorschach had specifically leveraged his friend’s reputation among the refugees when he first promoted fertilizers and farming machinery to those who chose to cultivate the new land.
Furthermore, through settling and relocating the people and maintaining order... Bart had already developed more than enough competence. Organizing today’s "roadside welcoming ceremony" was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
"Nervous? You’re a Valois! This is our Empire’s Prime Minister, the greatest and most outstanding one! I’m about to meet him in person."
In Andre’s mind, such high praise belonged to Dipresy, but of course, he wasn’t about to argue with a mage who was about to meet his idol.
As the convoy drew near and stopped, Bart was overcome with a new wave of anxiety. ’The convoy has stopped. Should we go out to greet them? But what if it isn’t the Lord Chancellor’s convoy? Wouldn’t it be awkward if I rush up there...?’
From the moment the Prime Minister departed, an agent from the Balderom Trading Company watching the gates of the Royal Palace immediately sent a telegram. In other words, while the Prime Minister was still waiting for his secretary to procure food for the journey, Rorschach and the others already knew he was leaving, though they weren’t yet clear on his destination.
However, the Prime Minister’s team hired a local coachman as a guide, who led their vanguard carriage onto the new road. At that point, Rorschach could confirm that the convoy was heading for him.
And the string of large birds the guard had seen at dawn was actually a Sky Knight Squadron that had flown over their heads. They had been discreetly escorting the convoy from the cover of the forest canopy. If the convoy hadn’t emerged into a large open area after daybreak, the guard likely would never have spotted them.
It was also the Sky Knights who dispelled Bart’s doubts. The small-statured female captain landed, a third-generation mobility device on her back, and reported to Bart, "My lord, it is indeed the Prime Minister’s convoy. They departed from the Royal Palace, procured food once in Munich, took two short breaks, had one major stop in town, and have been traveling on the new main road the entire time."
"Thank you for your hard work, Tanya. There’s food in the rear. Take your team and get some rest." Tanya’s eyes were very large, and Bart could see they were bloodshot.
"Yes, sir!"
His doubts confirmed, Bart clapped his hands several times and shouted, "Everyone—put some energy into it! Louder! Let ’em hear you! Show the Empire’s Prime Minister the spirit of us Kempson folks!" The phrase "Spirit-Vitality-Soul" was something he’d borrowed from Rorschach. Bart was now full of admiration for him. ’How did he know that these fake flowers made of silk and paper would one day be used like this?’
Seeing that the crowd still wasn’t shouting with enough gusto, Bart added, "Shout until you’re hoarse, and you’ll get three bottles of soda to take home!"
There, that was loud enough.
It was tacky, but it was lively. A small shockwave of formalism for the Otherworld.
Bart was at the peak of his excitement. He swung himself onto his horse and rode quickly to the front of the convoy. Amidst the wave of cheers, he had to shout at the top of his lungs, "Lord Chancellor, welcome to Kempson!"
The carriage window opened. The secretary took out a [Spirit Armor Skill] Scroll, poured an Alchemy Potion on it, and applied the first layer of protection to the Prime Minister. At the same time, he readied a Shield Scroll for immediate activation. Once all this was done, the carriage moved forward slowly to receive the crowd’s welcome.
The cheers were deafening. A month earlier, these refugees would have gnashed their teeth at the sight of one of their enemy nation’s leaders. But now, they were "New Kempsonites." As residents with a new identity and a new sense of belonging, it didn’t matter if it was the Empire’s Prime Minister or some new Governor from Valois. Whoever showed up was fine by them—as long as they paid and provided food, they’d give them a heartfelt welcome. Besides, it was a chance to watch the spectacle and see how many heads and mouths a big shot had.
The Empire had made them homeless, and Valois had failed to protect them. Only Kempson had given them back what they had lost, and perhaps even something better than before.
From beneath his thick, salt-and-pepper eyebrows, the Prime Minister’s eyes looked past the obtrusive welcomer, constantly observing the people on both sides of the road.
’Whether they monitored my movements or not, to be able to pass on the news so quickly and mobilize so many people in such a short time... and the orderliness of the crowd, the spirit and physical condition of every person, are all excellent.’ The Prime Minister smiled and waved at the people, while in his heart, his assessment of Rorschach, and of Bayern’s war potential, continued to rise.
