After the midnight bell had struck twelve times, the crowd celebrating the New Year in the central square of the royal capital began to disperse. After making noise for half the night, most people decided to go home and rest for the night. After all, the grand New Year's celebration would only officially begin when the first ray of morning light appeared.
...
Before the first ray of morning light of the New Year appeared, the security office in the royal capital was already bustling. If there were people who were not satisfied with large-scale events like the celebration, the soldiers in the security office were probably among them.
The security office only had a few thousand soldiers but had to maintain the order of the entire city. The pre-festival last night had already exhausted every soldier in the security office, and they had only had less than five hours of rest before they had to return to their duty stations. The pressure was tremendous.
The commander of the security office, Alder, was probably even more tired than the ordinary soldiers. This nearly forty-year-old commander had not even had half an hour of rest. He had handled over three hundred small and big emergencies in the headquarters of the security office. Although most of them were minor incidents such as thefts and robberies, they were still troublesome to deal with.
"I'm... about to become a deity..." With heavy dark circles under his eyes, Alder lay weakly on the sofa in his office and let out a long yawn.
"Commander, you've worked hard." His deputy, Kerry, smiled bitterly as he poured a cup of freshly brewed hot coffee for the commander and served it on a small saucer.
"Thanks... it's so bitter!" Alder took a sip of the coffee but almost spat it out due to its bitterness.
"There's nothing I can do. Adding sugar and milk ruins the effect." Kerry poured a cup for himself and sat next to Alder, sipping it slowly. Although it was bitter, it was quite effective in refreshing the mind.
The celebration would only begin after daybreak, and they had already sent out all the thousands of people in the security office before that, so they could finally rest for a while.
"There's still more than half an hour. Commander, why don't you take a rest first? I'll wake you up later."
"I can't sleep after drinking this." Alder sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Never mind, I'll tough it out. I must take a good vacation after today. My wife has been complaining that I haven't been home for over two months."
"That's true..." Kerry, who unexpectedly received dog food, expressed his envy.
Putting down the cup and intending to wash his face to wake up, Kate suddenly caught the sound coming from downstairs. It sounded like the tapping of boots on the ground and... the clashing of metal?
"There's something going on." Alder also noticed the sound downstairs and immediately stood up with renewed energy.
Walking downstairs from his office, Alder saw two military officers in Iron Wall Brigade uniforms walking towards him. The clashing of metal came from the collision between their scabbards and leg armor.
"People from the Iron Wall Brigade? What are you doing here?" Alder frowned slightly. The security office and the Iron Wall Brigade were not under the same jurisdiction, and there was no reason for them to visit each other. Moreover, there had been a minor disagreement between the security office and the Iron Wall Brigade recently over the division of defense zones. He was not happy to see these people.
"By order of the central military command, in order to maintain the security of the New Year's celebration, all deployments related to the defense and security of the royal capital, including the security office, are temporarily under the unified jurisdiction of the Iron Wall Brigade under the command of General Korrin." One of the officers handed a military order to Alder.
What a joke! The Iron Wall Brigade? Korrin?
The security office had always been directly under the palace, so why should an foreign military officer have the right to command them?
After careful examination, the military order was indeed genuine, with the seal of the central military command. But even so, this sudden and unreasonable event was definitely abnormal.
"Commander, I just checked. The security office is surrounded by people from the Iron Wall Brigade. There are about two platoons of them." Kerry whispered next to Alder.
"Surrounding the security office openly? Are you rebelling?!" Alder sternly questioned.
"Just for the sake of safety." One of the officers's face suddenly showed a cold smile. "Commander, you just need to rest assured and stay here. Leave everything else to the Iron Wall Brigade."
"You!" Alder placed his hand on the sword hanging at his waist, but almost at the same time, dozens of soldiers rushed in from outside the security office gate and aimed their swords at Alder on the stairs.
"... " Alder's mood sank, and his hand that was reaching for the sword slowly withdrew.
He had the title of a fifth-level knight on his own, and his deputy, Keri, was a graduate of the Royal Knight Academy, with a similar strength to himself. However, even so, there were only a dozen or so people in the security office at the moment, most of whom were civilians. It could be imagined how difficult it would be to break through the encirclement of several hundred elite soldiers.
- Moreover, these two officers in front of him were obviously not easy to deal with.
"What do you... want to do?" Olt gritted his teeth. He had no power to resist, and the military orders from the headquarters were real. At this time, he had no choice but to listen to them.
"It's none of your concern. You just need to obey the military orders," the officer from the Iron Wall Corps said. "And then, inform all the security soldiers patrolling the city of these orders."
"Alright, but I need to send someone out to have your people lift the siege, otherwise how can I give the order?" Olt sighed in relief. As long as he could send someone out to find out what was going on, it would be fine.
"It's very simple." As if he could see through Olt's thoughts, a mocking smile appeared on the officer's face, and he took out several copies of the same order that had already been copied. "You just need to sign on these, and the orders will be delivered by my men."
...
All the events that happened in the security office in the early morning were unknown to most people, but more abnormalities appeared afterwards: all the gates of the capital were closed, and anyone entering or leaving was strictly prohibited. Within a hundred meters of the city walls, it was designated as a military restricted zone, and anyone who entered without authorization would be considered an invader and killed without mercy.
At the same time, a large number of soldiers from the Iron Wall Corps appeared around the headquarters of the Magic Guild, the Knight Association, the Mercenary Guild, and other large organizations in the capital, keeping a close watch on any movements in those places.
These soldiers, who were recalled from the border, carried a strong military quality and had a cold and indifferent look, as if they were not going to celebrate a festive event, but to engage in a brutal war.
...
At the same time, inside the Gusteberd Cathedral.
Due to the New Year's celebration, people who came to pray in the morning had arrived early and left the cathedral after the prayer to prepare for the celebration at the Rongguang Square in front of the royal palace.
After the prayer, only Archbishop Heinrich was left in the spacious cathedral, looking somewhat lonely.
"Your Excellency! There are a large number of soldiers from the Iron Wall Corps near the church. They have surrounded the church. What should we do?" Garcia, the commander of the Holy Knights Order in the capital, was wearing a white robe, but under the robe, he was covered in full armor and carried a sharp sword. He looked nervous.
"Calm down. Have they done anything?" Heinrich asked calmly.
"Not yet, but they..."
"It's alright. Temple Church hasn't done anything that violates the laws of the kingdom. At most, they are just surrounding us. They dare not do anything excessive." The archbishop picked up the staff leaning against the side and walked up to Garcia.
"But this... this is trampling on the dignity of the church! By the goddess, no kingdom has ever dared to order the military to surround a cathedral!" Garcia said indignantly.
Heinrich looked deeply at Garcia without saying a word.
...
"Commander, don't you like to add sugar to your coffee? It's a bit bitter without it," one of the officers from the Iron Wall Corps said in the office of Olt. Each of them held a cup of coffee, but after taking a sip, they both had expressions of discomfort.
"Of course, I would prefer a sweeter one, if you want me to go to the underground warehouse to get sugar packets and milk for you," Olt snorted.
"Then let's stick with black coffee. Even though you are a skilled warrior, we dare not let you out of our sight easily," the officer took another sip, frowned and complained, "It's really bitter."
"Didn't you spend most of your time in the harsh conditions at the border? How can't you handle a cup of coffee?" Keri, sitting beside Olt, couldn't help but mock.
"It's different. We don't have such good coffee to enjoy at the border," the officer didn't really care about the sarcasm in Keri's words.
"By the way," the other officer put down the coffee cup in his hand and looked at a cross fixed on the office wall, "Commander, are you religious? And I heard that you have a good relationship with Archbishop Heinrich."
"... " Olt sensed a hint of unusual meaning in his words.
In the palace, His Majesty the King had already gotten up early, standing in front of the dressing mirror as courtiers prepared his attire for the upcoming New Year celebration.
Throughout the kingdom's history, there had been very few young kings like Granzon. As a king who grew up in the midst of war, fought battles, and was crowned, Granzon did not like the classical style costumes. He found them too heavy and foolish, so his attire leaned towards a military ceremonial uniform with a minimalist style.
The pure white fabric and well-tailored cut highlighted his well-built figure, honed through years of sword training. The original royal scepter was cast aside, replaced by a sharp sword hanging from his waist.
"Dad," Brad pushed open the door and entered.
"Aren't you leaving yet? I thought you had already gone to the square first," Granzon didn't turn around, staring at his reflection in the mirror. Finally, he put on a royal insignia and nodded with satisfaction, "So, how am I, your old man, still as handsome as during the war?"
"Dad, how old was I when you were at war? I have no recollection at all," Crown Prince spread out his hands and shrugged.
"You, this guy, would die if you didn't give me a compliment!" Granzon retorted as he was attacked by Brad, "But never mind that, did you arrange for the deployment of the Iron Wall Corps outside?"
"Yes, in times like this, we need to intimidate those restless folks, especially that old fox, Heinrich."
