novelraw Chapter 125: Ambush
Chapter 125: Ambush
Ch 125: Ambush
Returning to his office in Stirling Town, Viper dictated the account of the recent combat, instructing his secretary to write a report to be sent to Tyne.
As his subordinate finished writing the report and was about to seal it, Viper suddenly called a halt. “A few investigators were dispatched to the Northern Mountains some time ago to gather intelligence. Call them in to report the situation, and add it to the end of this report.”
“Yes.”
Subsequently, five investigators entered the office one after another. They did not provide any valuable intelligence. Baron Viper suspected that these people were merely finding a place to while away the time, using half-truths and lies to deceive him.
“Your bonuses for this month are cancelled. Get out and reflect on yourselves!”
Four investigators left the office, leaving only an Anglo-Saxon investigator nicknamed “Latecomer”.
This man’s name was Connor, the second son of a gentleman’s family. During last year’s war, he served as a mounted messenger. Once, his mount stopped mid-journey, causing a delay in operations, thus earning him the nickname “Latecomer” from his colleagues. Unsurprisingly, this nickname would likely stay with him for the rest of his life.
After the war, Connor, due to his Pictish ancestry and rudimentary knowledge of the Pictish language, luckily secured a position as an investigator at Stirling County’s Public Order bureau.
“Investigator, do you have any questions?” Looking at the gloomy Baron Viper, Connor recounted his scouting experience again. He disguised himself as a pedlar buying wool, consecutively visiting three villages in the Northern Mountains. One day, he overheard someone mentioning the situation of the rebel army. Unfortunately, his appearance aroused the vigilance of the locals, and the conversation abruptly ended.
As dusk approached, Baron Viper planned to attend a dinner at the Earl’s house and impatiently waved his hand. “What are you trying to say?”
“Sir, the more isolated a place is, the more exclusionary it tends to be. As outsiders, we cannot gain the trust of the local villagers in a short period, making it difficult to gather useful information. Therefore, I suggest changing our strategy and dispatching an undercover agent to infiltrate the rebel army to provide detailed and effective intelligence.”
After listening for a few minutes, Baron Viper’s furrowed brow gradually relaxed. He looked at the young Anglo-Saxon investigator with interest,
“That seems reasonable. I’ll have the secretary add this idea to the bandit suppression report; the Duke might be interested.”
Putting on his coat, Baron Viper gestured for his secretary and the investigator to stay in the office for overtime. He himself whistled as he walked away in the direction of the Earl’s Residence.
A week later.
Baron Viper received a reply from the Duke’s Mansion. After the secretary finished reading the letter aloud, he was simply incredulous. “The Duke wants Connor to take up a post in Tyne. Did you not read it correctly?”
Viper snatched the letter, but since he couldn’t read, he tossed it back to his secretary in frustration and asked him to summon Connor, the “Latecomer”.
“You’re lucky, kid. The Duke is summoning you to Tyne. Hurry back and prepare; don’t keep Your Excellency waiting.”
Hearing this good news, Connor felt dizzy, as if he had drunk too much alcohol, and staggered back to his room.
Lying in bed, he gazed at the wooden planks of the roof and muttered to himself: “Finally, I can leave this hellhole of Stirling.”
On April 10th, Connor arrived at Tyne Town Dock aboard a Viking longship transporting pig iron.
As the ship docked, he did not rush to Tyne; he found a nearby public bathhouse, got a haircut and bath, and had lunch. The total cost was a quarter of a pence.（ To facilitate transactions, silver pence were commonly cut into halves and quarters.）
After grooming himself, looking at his reflection in the bronze mirror, Connor couldn’t help but grumble:
“The Duke was originally just a Northern European peasant. Why does he have such severe cleanliness issues? He even demands that residents of Tyne Town bathe at least once a week. Sigh, just like the legendary Romans, he loves to make things complicated.”
But on second thought, every Noble Lord has their quirks – murder, pillage, hunting, lust, alcoholism, gluttony. Compared to all of these, the Duke of Tyne’s strange behavior is not particularly harmful.
While inwardly complaining, Connor walked towards Tyne, located on the Southwest Low Hills, and presented his letter to the guard. He was led to a small room next to the main building, where seven visitors were sitting.
“Wait here; the Duke may call for you at any time.” The guard said this and returned to his post at the East Gate.
Connor looked around at the people in the room: a knight equipped in chainmail, Anglo-Saxon gentlemen, a Flemish wool merchant, and a Viking brute smelling strongly of alcohol, with rough skin – presumably the captain of a merchant ship.
After some time, the knight was called into the hall, then the gentleman, the wool merchant, and the captain. When it was Connor’s turn, he was slumped in a chair, fast asleep.
Awakened by a servant girl, Connor nervously entered the main hall, bowing before the Lord seated there. “Your Excellency, I am Connor, an investigator from Stirling County.”
“It’s you?”
Vig sat up straight, dismissed the guards and servants from the hall, and questioned the investigator about the idea of deploying an undercover agent. After the investigator had finished speaking, Vig added, supplementing:
“When making contact, try to use single-line communication. Even if someone betrays us, the damage caused will be relatively controllable.”
Recalling the films he had watched in his past life, he threw out a bunch of precautions, only to realize that he had confused the other person, so he changed the subject. “Can you read?”
Connor: “I started learning Norse last year, and I have mastered two hundred Norse words. Thanks to your simplification and that of the Raven Speaker, Norse grammar is easy to understand, and I learned it quickly.”
Vig nodded in satisfaction and issued a new task. “In the coming months, you will participate in the school’s literacy class. After graduating, return to Stirling County to serve as an inspector, recruit some reliable undercover agents, and send them to infiltrate the rebel army. Come and see me again before you leave; I will teach you some additional precautions then.”
After Connor left, the Raven Speaker entered the hall and showed Vig the results of his half-year’s work – many scrolls filled with legal texts.
After the establishment of the Four Northern Counties, each county had a judge who handled disputes according to local customs.
For the sake of rigor, Vig decided to compile a written law, referencing the Roman legal system in form and the traditions of the Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, and Picts in content. Due to the enormous workload, the writing process was intermittent, and it was expected to be completed in 852.
After reviewing it for ten or so minutes, he had Herigifu and Micham summoned and carefully considered each clause.
After an unknown amount of time, Vig’s eyes felt sore, so he simply put down the scrolls and talked to the Raven Speaker about other topics.
To this day, the improved Runic Script and many innovative measures have spread throughout Northern Europe, attracting the attention of religious sites such as Uppsala and Lake Tisso. Gradually, some people began to refer to the shaman group headed by the Raven Speaker as the Tyne Cult.
To this, the Raven Speaker readily accepted. Two months ago, he publicly declared that he had long since severed ties with the conservative groups in Uppsala.
His statement attracted the attention of some reformists, and a steady stream of followers came, but it also brought a lot of trouble.
Vig: “Lately, haven’t there been shamans frequently going to the temples to cause trouble?”
After receiving an affirmative reply, he decided to dispatch soldiers to guard the temples in the five counties, especially the Tyne headquarters, to prevent some individuals who had failed in their debates from becoming enraged and resorting to physical means to solve the problem.