Chapter 184 — Arrangements

The moment Gao Yang stepped into the great hall, Amber came darting over with an afterimage trailing behind her, and the first thing out of her mouth was: "Gods, you're finally here! If you'd taken any longer I couldn't have held out!"

"Didn't you quite look forward to throwing my name around and acting tough?" Gao Yang gave her an odd look. "So why are you like this now that you've got the chance?"

"Ugh, don't even mention it—it's nothing like I imagined!" Amber's face fell. "Back when I did jobs, I never had this many people watching me. This kind of work environment, with all eyes on you—it's so unfriendly..."

Gao Yang: "...I still really can't understand where this mysterious professional pride of yours even comes from."

With that, he tossed this baffling half-elf thief aside and strode up onto the raised platform himself.

At once, dozens of gazes in the hall shifted to him.

Gao Yang swept his eyes over the people below. He saw the castle's advisor, its treasurer, and its chief knight, along with the priest of the Holy Light he had met the night before. He also saw several country gentlemen whose clothes still bore the morning dew, their expressions anxious and fearful—no doubt the estate stewards who managed the Kant family's holdings and had just come in from the town. And seeing the looks on their faces, Gao Yang knew the situation was much as he had expected.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Gao Yang began, his tone low and steady—and combined with his towering, commanding presence, he succeeded in quieting and calming the crowd below, "I imagine you are all bewildered and uneasy right now. You must have suddenly realized what has been happening over the past decades—and that these things are utterly different from what you remember or perceive. I am here to answer your doubts."

"Last night, something momentous happened in this castle. I must tell you with regret that the Kant family came to its end that night..."

Gao Yang told these people the truth in as simple and direct a manner as he could. He let them know the truth because in the days to come they would have to maintain order in the Kant domain, and they would have to take on the responsibility of liaising with the neighboring nobles and with the investigators the king would send. But wherever possible he chose milder phrasing to describe the parts that were too sensational—such as the mountain of bones beneath the old stable district, and the fact that this land had come within a single step of being corrupted by a horrific nightmare-creature.

After all, that "Young Master Belm" had at that point had both feet planted in the real world!

If he simply spoke of these things, they would likely strike people as sensational; better to let those present see for themselves, so they could better understand what had actually happened.

When Gao Yang's account came to a temporary pause, the hall fell into a brief, dead silence—until, a few seconds later, uneasy murmuring finally broke out. The priest of the Church of the Shining Star kept tracing sacred symbols over his chest, trying to drive off the fear coiling in his heart, while the chief knight—his hair now almost completely white, and who served as the knight-instructor of Kant Castle—could not help but call out loudly: "Then what are we to do?"

"As for the future of this land, Viscount Kant has already left arrangements," Gao Yang nodded, drawing from his breast the letters Victor Kant had left behind. "Though Viscount Kant was trapped by the nightmare, he remained a valiant warrior. You should thank him—with the last remnants of his soul's strength, he arranged a way out for everyone. First, regarding the right of inheritance to the domain..."

After laying out Viscount Kant's arrangements one by one, and offering some encouragement to the stewards present, Gao Yang left the time for free discussion to those in the hall. He himself, as if to make his position clear, stepped down from the platform and went to rest by the tea table on the western side of the hall.

It was a gesture—a sign that the Cecil family would not take this opportunity to kick a man when he was down and swallow up the Kant domain. Such annexation was hardly rare in this age, especially after the founding of the Second Dynasty, when the royal house's hold over the nobles of the various regions had greatly weakened, and small nobles along the kingdom's borders routinely encroached upon and fought one another. Gao Yang had deliberately struck this pose to set the minds of those present at ease.

But clearly someone had different ideas. He had barely sat down when a short, stout middle-aged man in a black coat came over. He bowed to Gao Yang, his face deferential and slightly nervous: "Your Grace, I am Viscount Kant's advisor, Padrick Bohm. There is something I wish to discuss with you."

"The old viscount's advisor?" Gao Yang glanced at the short, stout gentleman. The man looked honest and amiable, and carried himself with a certain scholarly refinement—which rather suited the image of a "noble's advisor." "What is it you want with me?"

"It is like this—we have lost our lord, and worse still, we have lost Steward Carter. With no one to take charge of the whole, I, a mere minor affairs advisor, am somehow expected to shoulder the burden of maintaining order throughout the domain, and I worry whether my authority is sufficient," Padrick said, standing there somewhat tensely—clearly the pressure of facing a figure of Gao Yang's orange-quality excavated caliber directly for the first time was great. "So I consulted with several gentlemen, and we hope you might... serve temporarily as acting lord of the Kant domain, and help us through this most difficult time. Of course, this request is truly presumptuous—it is fine if you refuse."

Gao Yang raised an eyebrow, but showed little surprise: "You mean for me to temporarily assume the duties of lord?"

"It seems the best choice," Padrick said with a helpless spread of his hands. "You are the most prestigious and most capable noble we have access to. Apart from you, no one could control the situation under these circumstances. And you personally saved this land—by both sentiment and reason, I think no one would voice any objection to your taking over."

Yet Gao Yang merely smiled, and said unhurriedly: "I have no intention of becoming lord of the Kant domain—not even acting lord."

Padrick looked somewhat uneasy: "But..."

"I haven't finished," Gao Yang waved a hand. "If I became lord of the Kant domain under these circumstances, you would know what was really going on—but the nobles outside the domain might not think the same. The Kant domain is only a small patch of land, and I do not wish it to become a stain on my reputation. That is the private side. As for the public side: Viscount Kant was a crown noble directly enfeoffed by the royal house, and the transfer, reversion, and re-enfeoffment of his lands may only be designated by the king. Though I am an elder of Francis II, I do not intend to use that as grounds to deliberately break the rules Charles and I set down together in those years."

"...You are indeed just and upright."

"Of course, I also know your difficulties. So I will issue a declaration in the name of Duke Cecil: until the Kant domain regains a lawful lord, I will extend nominal protection over this land—and if a new lord is installed here, my protection will end at the same time."

Padrick blinked, seeming to grasp Gao Yang's far-sightedness, and bowed his head respectfully: "Your arrangements are indeed thorough."

Gao Yang nodded, and took the occasion to instruct: "I hope you will issue a notice, telling those dismissed castle servants and the serfs directly attached to the lord that if they fall on hard times, the Cecil family is always willing to take them in. They will receive fair treatment as free commoners in the new Cecil domain."

"Yes, they will surely be grateful for your mercy."