Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 879: After Twenty Months… II

CH0879 After Twenty Months… II

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For more than a year and a half, the eyes of the aristocracy had never drawn themselves away from Earl Drake Fury—the Mad Earl.

Though potentially up against one Duchy and two Grand Duchies, no one disregarded the threat that the man posed to his targets.

It wasn’t just about his personal strength; it was more about how unpredictable the man was.

Though the Duchy and Grand Duchies likely hid characters above the Legendary realm, they didn’t see Earl Drake Fury’s threat as an idle one.

So, even when an edict arrived at Ashen Castle from the Imperial Sun, Emperor Ludevicus himself, people still kept a close eye on the Earl in all his dealings.

This interestingly created opportunities for Dark Water to exploit.

While the world was focused on Earl Drake Fury, Dark Water operatives used the blind spot consequently created in the surveillance of the major intelligence agencies of the plane to carry out their objectives unseen until after the fact.

However, these intelligence agencies weren’t stupid. It didn’t take long for them to piece together this phenomenon. They soon understood that someone in the background was using the luminous light projected by the Mad Earl to act in the shadows.

Many within the aristocracy accused the Mad Earl of ignoring the Imperial Edict and acting against those he believed responsible for his son’s… accident.

So much so that the man was called to the Virellian Imperial Capital before the Emperor himself to explain himself.

However, what the man said before the Imperial Court shocked and silenced many in different ways.

“If I wanted to attack anyone, everyone would know it was me.

“If I was determined to kill anyone, the Imperial Edict isn’t enough to stop me. I would send the Edict back, then acted without care.”

“As much as I would not mind slaying a few old dogs hiding in their caves, the hunt is not mine.”

To many, the Mad Earl’s words seeped with arrogance that knew no bounds. They accused him of treason before the Crown for daring to speak such words before the Emperor himself.

However, others saw his words as being true to his character. After all, he was known as the ‘Mad Earl’, the madman of the aristocracy, for a reason.

If his words and behaviour were in line with common sense, it was then they would be worried.

As for the words he spoke themselves, this latter group saw them as the Mad Earl’s own way of showing loyalty to the Crown.

After all, the Mad Earl actually accepted the edict and abstained from taking action—overtly, anyway—against those he believed responsible for his son’s incident.

Only loyalty to the Crown could have made the infamous Mad Earl act as such—this was the belief of the latter half of the court.

And Emperor Ludevicus agreed with this half.

As such, the matter was shelved at the Imperial Court.

However, while the matter was shelved at the court, it did not mean the matter was over for everyone involved.

There were members of the former group of nobility—those who either blamed the Earl for the covert incidents across the empire or simply couldn’t stand the Mad Earl’s ‘insufferable’ arrogance—and decided to move against him.

But the Mad Earl’s holding was not so easily attacked. Only very few people actually dared attack the Mad Earl. And amongst those who did, or were powerful enough to do so, they had their own close opposition and couldn’t be bothered to poke this unstable, unpredictable variable.

Unlike the matter with his son, should he be attacked like this, the Mad Earl would have carte blanche to retaliate.

So, they turned their attention to the next best thing.

This group of aristocrats decided to make things difficult for other Fury noble families.

They believed that by doing so, the Mad Earl would be pressured by the members of his own clan and be forced to tone down his actions.

After all, no one would know where to strike the Mad Earl better than members of his own family.

And they weren’t entirely wrong.

“I believe I speak for everyone when I say that we all sympathise with you, Earl Drake. The loss of a child is no small loss to a parent. However, you cannot keep letting your actions drag down the rest of us.

“Earl Drake Fury, you are the Clan Head of the entire Fury Clan. Your actions reflect not only on your household, but on all of us who share a similar bloodline as you.” Baron Aiden Fury said.

Baron Aiden Fury, the son of Earl Mathias Fury—the second Earl in the Fury name—spoke as he addressed the Fury Elder council, which included the two Earls and three other Count powerhouses of the Fury name: Count Gordon Fury, Count Vincent Fury and Countess Megan Fury.

The meeting was also attended by various other important members of the Fury family, including landed nobles and Flag officers within the central Fury Clan Army. In particular was Baron Dereck Lawson, the Lord Marshall of the Fury Clan Army, who notably had Alex’s half-brother, Ulfman Fury, standing by his side, serving as his adjutant.

No one reacted—much less said a word—to Baron Aiden’s address, or rather, veiled admonishment of Earl Drake.

The man himself just sat languidly in his high-backed chair, his chin resting on one fist on his seat’s armrest.

Baron Aiden, who carried himself more like Virellian nobility than a Fury scion, subtly glanced at his father before continuing.

“Earl Drake Fury, your posture—whether intentional or not—has cast our Fury Clan in an unfavourable light in the eyes of the empire’s nobility and aristocracy. While you might not care, it negatively impacts the lives of our weaker clansmen every day.

“We cannot continue like this!” He said decisively.

“With this in mind, at the risk of speaking above my station, I propose that the Clan publicly vacate Alex Fury’s position as the heir to Earl Drake Fury.

“Alex Fury’s name should also be removed from the list of candidates for the position of the Clan’s Young Lord, at least pending the time his situation can be ascertained and his name has stopped invoking malice between the Fury Clan and the empire’s aristocratic lineages.

“This is in the best interest of the Fury family.”

There was a pin-drop silence in the hall.

Earl Mathias and Countess Megan’s faces were differently, yet similarly stony and impassive.

Count Vincent’s face was cloaked behind a sheen of darkness, making his presence faint. It was difficult to remember the man was there, much less observe the expression on his face.

Meanwhile, Count Gordon—Drake’s half-brother—had eyes that glowed with amusement.

But the attending crowd weren’t interested in these people at the moment. All eyes turned to Earl Drake Fury, awaiting his response.

But to everyone’s surprise, Earl Drake Fury… yawned.

The Mad Earl yawned as if he had just watched the most boring performance.

This was a big slap to Baron Aiden’s face, but the man could do nothing but take it.

Still, everyone was expecting the Mad Earl to say something. It even looked like Earl Mathias was getting ready to act should Earl Drake do something overhanded towards his son.

But surprisingly, the Mad Earl didn’t speak. Instead, he turned towards the door.

In that moment, a youth dressed in an immaculate, signature roguelike noble suit walked imposingly into the hall, shocking everyone.

“I know I have been gone for a year and a half or so, but I didn’t expect we Furys to have fallen so far that a fool can address the Clan Head so blatantly disrespectfully and still keep his head.

“I guess I have to remedy that myself.” Alex’s cold voice landed.

Carrying with it a frigid killing intent, his figure flashed at Baron Aiden.

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