novelraw Chapter 77 : A New Commission
Chapter 77 : A New Commission
Chapter 77: A New Commission
In this era, investment was also high risk and high return.
However, for Levi, leaving money in the bank was useless.
Previously, he had put part of it into a trust fund, collecting dividends.
Just in time, another sum had been transferred down from above, so Levi planned to invest it into Uncle Hank’s factory.
Of course, he did not invest directly.
First, he used his own ability to investigate the company thoroughly—after all, as a man of MI7, if he wanted to check the operations and finances of a company, it was a matter of a single word.
The result… was not bad.
Judging from the financial situation, Uncle Hank’s “Kelida Steam Machinery Craft” had fairly normal cash flow, just not making much profit.
That was normal.
Similar to the tide of private ventures in the eighties and nineties, everyone wanted to go into business and become a big boss, but in truth, very few managed to run large companies.
The rest either struggled to survive or shut down and left.
This “Kelida Steam Machinery Craft” was one of those currently struggling to survive.
After all, its business scope basically overlapped with surrounding shops, and it relied almost entirely on returning customers for support.
Most of the time, it survived by doing mechanical modification and repair work.
But right now, most steam machinery shops were like this too—offering car repair, modification, and building all in one, a rough-and-ready kind of development.
However, in a few years, things would inevitably become more standardized.
Such street-side workshop businesses could not last forever.
Uncle Hank clearly understood this as well, so he wanted to seize this opportunity to come ashore.
Of course, without money, it would not work.
They had the skills, they had the people, but they did not have the money.
So Uncle Hank had no choice but to turn to Levi—after all, someone who could hand over several hundred pounds without blinking, naturally, was a thigh worth holding onto tightly.
Through Inspector Lestrade, Levi found a reliable law firm, and finally signed a contract.
Levi invested 800 pounds, obtaining 38% of the shares.
Basically, he was only there to take dividends, not responsible for daily operations.
Levi had no objections—after all, he did not understand this business anyway.
While Levi was busy with his side venture, great waves of change were also sweeping through the Empire.
Levi had never met the Queen, so he did not know what she thought of the Imperial Bridge incident.
But judging from the follow-up actions, it was clear the Queen had already resolved to deal with the Church.
Not long after the opening ceremony ended, newspapers quickly ran front-page headlines condemning the Holy Lord Church, naturally including the matter of secretly misusing corpses.
Several church priests and pastors were executed publicly.
But that was not enough.
Her Majesty the Queen clearly did not intend to stop at executing a few small fries.
She directly tied the matter to the Holy Lord Church itself, accusing the Church of violating faith.
She further declared that the Imperial Church would no longer be under the jurisdiction of the Holy See in Mulan, and officially designated the Puritan Sect as the Empire’s state religion.
Put plainly, the Queen believed the Holy Lord Church headquarters’ faith was impure, disloyal, and unorthodox.
Well, they had it coming.
After all, as a church pastor, you dug graves and desecrated corpses—and those pastors even claimed it was an order from headquarters.
Who would believe you still held pure faith?
So the Queen directly and publicly declared: we no longer recognize the legitimacy of the Holy See, because our Empire’s national Church is the true Holy Lord Church!
And the Queen’s words were not just empty rhetoric.
After all, the original doctrine of the Holy Lord Church developed alongside Emperor Arthur.
The Empire itself was the birthplace of the Church’s doctrine.
As the Empire’s ruler, she indeed had the right to point at the Holy See’s nose and accuse them of being disloyal and unorthodox…
Levi later read through the Puritan Sect’s doctrine as well, and found that these people really did have some skill.
Historically, Emperor Arthur had very close ties with the Holy Lord Church, and since he was recognized by the Church as the Son of God, many aspects of spreading the Church’s doctrine could not avoid him.
So the Puritan Sect seized this point, tightly binding their doctrine to Emperor Arthur and the Empire.
In this way, the Holy Lord Church was not just a belief, but also a form of patriotic spirit and expression.
If previously the Holy Lord Church’s missionary work focused on universal truths, deliberately downplaying the connection between Emperor Arthur, the Empire, and the religion, then the Puritan Sect went the opposite way—strengthening the spread of faith with nationalism and patriotism.
Well, that was religion.
Fighting for discourse power was common, nothing strange.
At least from the news reports, Levi could see that within the Empire there had always been localists and pro-Holy See factions.
The Holy See faction, to emphasize the authority of the Church, deliberately downplayed the existence and achievements of the Empire’s father, Emperor Arthur.
The localists, in turn, saw this as a deliberate suppression, a twisting of right and wrong, a blasphemous act.
Put in more local terms, the Holy See faction said: “Our Holy See says your Emperor Arthur is the Son of God, so he is the Son of God.
If we did not recognize him, he would be nothing!”
But the localists said: “Who cares whether your Holy See recognizes him or not? Emperor Arthur is the Son of God.
You, as mere mortals, dare to deny the divine? That is the utmost blasphemy!”
So in the end, the two sides butted heads.
Previously, the Holy See faction held greater power, so the localists could not resist.
But now, with the Queen backing them, naturally they would beat the dog that fell into the water.
Several times when Levi passed by churches, he saw priests at the gates preaching the so-called “true doctrine.” Nothing more than: “Our Emperor Arthur is the mightiest! The Holy See’s blindness to this is blasphemy!” … Yes, it was immediately clear which faction these believers belonged to.
And their preaching was rather effective.
After all, everyone was a citizen of the Empire, and the sense of Imperial honor was strong.
To praise Emperor Arthur was to praise the Empire, and to praise themselves.
Of course, everyone liked that.
Although we were not the descendants of God, we were still citizens of a nation founded by the Son of God.
With a long history and civilization, compared to those bumpkins in savage lands, we were far superior!
In such circumstances, the Empire easily took over all churches within its territory.
Of course, there were dissenters, but once the Puritan Sect bound faith with patriotism, anyone opposing it now had to face the question: “Do you love the Holy See, or do you love the Empire?” … Well, that was deadly.
Levi had little to say about it.
After all, Her Majesty surely had her reasons.
Even if Levi had opinions, it would not matter.
With his identity and status, it was not his place to offer the Queen advice.
All he could do was take things one step at a time, and see how it developed.
But just because Levi had no opinion on the Queen, did not mean the Queen had no opinion on him.
He had barely enjoyed a few comfortable days before the Old Butler summoned him back to MI7.
“This time, I have a very important mission for you.”
The Old Butler’s face was serious, his expression grave.
“This was personally designated by Her Majesty the Queen.”
“Her Majesty personally designated it?”
Levi had to admit, this answer surprised him.
He had not expected the Queen herself to point him out to investigate a case… which meant this commission would not be easy.
“Yes.”
The Old Butler nodded, then after a brief silence, asked:
“Do you know of the Baskerville family in the Delicat region?”
“I’ve heard of them, but not familiar.”
“They are nobles, of high status, long trusted by the royal family.
But within the family, there has always been a strange matter: the head of the Baskerville family, once past his thirty-eighth birthday, would disappear.”
“…Disappear?”
Levi could not help but be surprised by this answer.
“That’s right.
The first case was more than half a century ago.
At the time, Baskerville the elder held a hunting trip after his birthday banquet, and never returned.
His servants searched privately, finding only his horse.
Since beast tracks were left nearby, everyone believed Sir Baskerville had accidentally provoked a wolf pack while hunting, and was killed.”
“Hmm…”
“If it had ended there, it could have been dismissed as a tragic accident.
But afterward, the second Baskerville—the son of the elder—also vanished after his birthday.
But unlike his father, the younger Baskerville did not go hunting.
After his birthday banquet, he simply returned to his room to rest.
According to servants’ testimony, the next morning when they went to wake him, they found he had vanished.
Meanwhile, his wife lay on the bed a mangled corpse.
And…”
“And?”
“On the blood-soaked floor remained beast tracks, as if a beast had entered.
In fact, the police investigating then also believed a hungry wolf had entered the room, killed Lady Baskerville, and taken away the younger Baskerville.
But the problem was, the two of them lived on the third floor, and no one had ever heard of wolves climbing walls.”
“I haven’t either.”
Levi muttered a complaint, fully attentive to the Old Butler’s words now.
His focus sharpened completely.
He had to admit, these two disappearances were indeed bizarre, full of supernatural and unscientific elements.
The Old Butler sighed helplessly.
“Not only that.
After the second Baskerville vanished, a local rumor arose, claiming the Baskerville family was cursed.
Every missing head was dragged to hell by a demon hound, and no one could save them.”
“Hmm… that saying really does sound… a bit suspicious.”
Hearing the rumor, Levi immediately became more alert.
Based on his experience, once rumors were involved, things could really become hard to define.
“And just a few days ago, the third Baskerville reached his thirty-eighth birthday. To prevent another disappearance, the local police provided close protection that day. But the result…”
No need to say it, surely another failure.
Otherwise the Queen would not have sent him to investigate.
“Your mission is to uncover the truth, and to protect the heir of the Baskerville family. This is the last surviving bloodline of the Baskervilles. Her Majesty’s order is: under no circumstances can the Baskerville bloodline be allowed to end. You must uncover the truth!”
“All right, I understand…”
What else could Levi say? Besides, he was indeed interested in this case.
“By the way, will Miss Katie go with me?”
“Miss Katie will not leave Mist City.”
The Old Butler paused before answering.
“This time, you will have to go alone.”
“All right…”
Without his excellent MT, it seemed Levi would have to figure things out himself again.