I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 229 Enthusiasm
"Why is it that every big city is now a chaotic mess?" On the streets of the old capital, watching the crowds of protesters, Deva, dressed in casual clothes, couldn't help but shrink back.

As a paladin and a regular guard, she should logically be on the side of the city hall, but looking at those unarmed yet passionate citizens, she really couldn't bring herself to do it.

Should we try to persuade them or not?

As the saying goes, even a professional can be stumped by a single silver coin. When it comes to money matters, there's no policy to back it up, and no amount of persuasion will help. Going out there will only result in being scolded and there's basically no way to remedy the situation. Even the officials working in the city hall wouldn't do something so stupid.

"Down with the City Council! Down with these hypocrites!" a man shouted, splashing paint on the City Hall. "A bunch of bastards who do absolutely nothing all day, spending their time in this beautiful building with its temperature-controlled magic figurine ...

"That's right. Other places collect taxes to prevent bandits and enemies. Our Harua is so peaceful that we don't need much military spending, but they're always trying to find ways to get money. It turns out that those bandits have already put on noble robes and are sitting in the city hall!"

"Even those goblins risk their lives to rob people, these bastards are just eating all day long, their bellies are bigger than my wife's when she was pregnant, they do nothing but think about how to do bad things, why doesn't the Mage use heavenly fire to burn them all to death!"

"I heard that besides the professionals, these guys are the ones who go to the high-end brothels the most often. No wonder that scholar said that the most lucrative job for women now is to be a prostitute. Isn't this just setting a bad example for children?!"

Inside the city hall, the former governor was sweating profusely, clutching the gleaming runestone tightly in his hand: "Grand Master Wenxing, this is no ordinary protest, this is absolutely a riot, a disrespect to the Harua Council! I'm sure you'll send out your airship force to arrest all these guys, otherwise they'll definitely incite and abduct more innocent citizens."

Fu Shi's reply was a slow and deliberate voice: "That won't do. Don't you know how much impact the protest in Nas City had? The councilors are very angry about those brutal methods and have strictly forbidden the airship force from attacking first, otherwise they will be held accountable."

Upon hearing this, the governor's fat belly receded: "But if you don't come soon, my lord, I'm afraid the old capital won't be peaceful for long. At the very least, you should send someone over to intimidate us, even if it's just to arrest a few ringleaders."

The voice on the other end of the rune was tinged with coldness: "There's nothing I can do. This is the council's order. Do you expect me to listen to you instead of the council?"

The consul broke out in a sweat; as a nobleman, his professional rank wasn't very high: "My lord, that's not what I meant at all. I was just trying to discuss it."

"Arrest people? How many people can that dilapidated prison in the old capital hold? If you arrest people today and you arrest people tomorrow, I think your term as governor is probably coming to an end." Wen Xing sneered, "Besides, the council said that the airship force can only retaliate against adventurers who launch attacks. I think most of these are ordinary citizens. If you arrest people, I'll have to publish it in the newspaper the next day. I can just find another place to work. You'd better watch out for your mansion in the upper city."

After the Venerable Wenxing finished speaking, he cut off the communication, while the governor was sweating profusely and cursing incessantly.

In reality, the city hall couldn't even collect the money the monk paid; it was collected directly by people from the council. This kind of situation, where there was no benefit for the local area but instead they were made to take the blame, even affected their own future. Weren't these council officials just making trouble for no reason and causing chaos in the local area?
"Your Excellency the Consul, Your Excellency the Consul!"

Just as the consul was cursing, his assistant hurriedly shouted, "Sir, those rioters look like they're about to launch an attack. Should we call the security detail to send reinforcements?"

"The guards are useless; they only sent 10 people, saying they were short-handed and needed to protect other areas as well." A hint of ruthlessness flashed across the governor's face as he said this.

As a former capital, the relationships here are incredibly complex, so much so that even many elderly political veterans find it difficult to unravel.

This is where the eight great families first settled, and many of their hatreds have been passed down for over a thousand years, with ongoing open and covert struggles even today.

Although normally there is a rank of rank above the officer, the chief of the guard is a loyal dog of that energy-manipulating family. His words are not as effective as those of the Storm Maiden's handmaiden. There are far too many cases of people finding excuses to obey orders but not to follow orders.

Normally, it would be fine, and we would just turn a blind eye and let it pass. We are all just small people doing things for our masters, so what's the point of making it so life-or-death?
Even today, these rioters are still stirring up trouble, completely disgracing the parliament!
But at that moment, a hint of fear flashed in the governor's eyes.

Outside the gate.

"Make way!" With that somewhat rough voice, a stench came from behind. Everyone pinched their noses and quickly made way, only to see several carts loaded with manure buckets coming from behind, with a few stray dogs following reluctantly.

"Bring some strong men!" With a command from the man pushing the cart, the bucket of excrement swarming with flies was lifted by several burly men and, amidst shouts of surprise and disgust, was poured into the guarded lobby, scaring the tense guards into fleeing in panic.

Deva looked reluctant, but the mob was clearly not after the guards. After the guards stationed at the gate were driven away, a thin man came to the gate. He took out a wire and poked at the door repeatedly. Soon the gate, which had been locked, was opened.

"Let's charge together! Tie up all those bastards who are worse than pigs and dogs and only know how to spread rumors among the councilors, and parade them through the streets!"

With that furious shout, the citizens, undaunted by the filth beneath their feet, roared and charged into the city hall. Some officials who were already worried, seeing the situation was not good, quickly slipped away through the back door. However, the officials who had offices upstairs because of their high positions were in a worse situation. Before the governor could even reach the third floor, the second floor was already packed with angry citizens.

Almost every second, familiar faces screamed in terror, which terrified the governor. Escorted by his assistant, he frantically ran back to the fourth floor, only to find the surging crowd shouting that the highest-ranking officials were on the top floor and that they shouldn't be allowed to escape.

"No, you should jump, Your Excellency." The assistant was also sweating profusely. "If we get caught, we'll be lucky to escape with our lives."

The governor looked at the first floor and felt dizzy. It was probably 10 meters high. He could jump down and not break his legs. Frustrated, he gritted his teeth and said, "These people are crazy. I think they have been bewitched by cultists. They are tying up us, who have noble blood, like pigs and parading us through the streets. This is simply rebellion!"

"Forget about rebelling, run, Governor, or you'll be arrested." The assistant then remembered something: "I learned the Featherfall Technique when I was a kid. I'll cast one for you later, Governor, and you'll be fine after you jump."

"Oh, what a great thing!" The governor's eyes lit up, and he opened the window. "Quickly put one down for me. Oh, and I also have a bottle of invisibility potion in my desk. Bring it to me."

The assistant was taken aback, gritted his teeth, said nothing, and went back to look for the invisibility potion. At this moment, he heard faint arguing sounds coming from the hallway, which made him quickly lock the door and come over with a bottle of potion. Unexpectedly, the governor glanced at it and said, "This is not it. This is for male enhancement. The light white one is the invisibility potion."

The assistant hurriedly went back to look for it, but by then the sounds of fighting could be heard coming from the hallway. The governor was terrified and kept urging, "Hurry up! How can you not even handle such a small matter!" "...This?" The assistant, covered in sweat, came forward with a bottle of potion. The governor finally smiled and said, "That's right, this is it."

He casually took the potion and urged, "Quickly cast a Featherfall spell on me. Once this farce is over, I'll transfer you to the town next door as mayor!"

The assistant gave a flattering smile and chanted incantations, but the door was kicked open. The governor was terrified when he saw the menacing people rushing in with chair legs in their hands. Fortunately, he felt a lightness in his body and jumped off the windowsill without hesitation.

However, to his surprise, his descent speed did not decrease by even a fraction. In the blink of an eye, he landed on his buttocks because he did not adjust his posture properly. The weight of his body and the height caused him to feel a sharp pain in his buttocks and lumbar spine. The figure that had just been concealed by the potion disappeared completely.

"Oh no, my back! I think my back is broken! Quick, get me a priest!"

On the windowsill, the assistant, a hint of mockery on his face, looked at the angry crowd and spread his hands: "Gentlemen, I've driven this heartless governor, who was about to mobilize the Air Court forces to suppress us, to the point of jumping off the building. Let's go downstairs and arrest him!"

Although the citizens were somewhat puzzled as to how this well-dressed young man had become one of their own, they were certain that the governor, who was howling like a dying pig on the ground, was indeed the same person. They immediately stopped caring and happily went downstairs to arrest the high-ranking official.

The assistant breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help going to the window to look at the still wailing governor. His expression turned cold: "Oh dear, I just remembered that the spells we usually use to speed up our journeys are just for getting away with things. Who would prepare a Featherfall spell for no reason? Governor, please don't blame me."

Municipal courtyard.

Although the governor seemed to be seriously injured and even paralyzed on the ground unable to move, he was still a member of a noble family of considerable rank. A "helpful citizen" immediately understood after giving him a healing potion and seeing his relatively rosy complexion.

"This guy's not in any serious trouble. Tie him up, take him to the square, and interrogate him along with the others!"

"You've rebelled! You've really rebelled!" The pain and the way he was bound like a pig drove the governor to shout in frustration: "I am the original Netherian, I have the noble blood of Telvis flowing in my veins! You can't treat me like this! This is rebellion! You deserve to be hanged!"

"Noble bloodline? Bah!" A blond man angrily spat in his face. "I still have pure Harua blood in my veins. If our ancestors hadn't taken in you remnants 3000 years ago, you wouldn't be a nobleman at all. Let them call you that again!"

As he spoke, he took off his shoes, took out his socks, and stuffed them directly into the mouth of the cursing governor: "Alright, brothers, let's restrain these guys who are spreading heresy and bewitching our noble fathers. If they come up with any more bad ideas, this will be their fate!"

The citizens laughed heartily, lifted the governor who was already tied to the rack, and shouted as they headed toward the Old Capital Square. Deva tugged at Dupont's sleeve: "This isn't a good thing. This has already turned into a bloodbath. It might really turn into a riot."

“It’s alright. Look how restrained the airship force is. They haven’t started fighting yet.” DuPont shook his head and skillfully hooked his arm around Deva’s. “As long as they don’t come over, this won’t escalate much. After all, these citizens are just angry. They haven’t lost their minds. At most, they’ll vent their anger, but they won’t kill them all. Once their anger subsides, they’ll be released.”

“But how undignified is that?” Deva shrank her neck. “Legally, attacking a nobleman is a serious crime. I think some of these people are just professionals pretending to be nobles.”

“The law doesn’t punish everyone.” DuPont shook his head: “The parliament gives them so much money every year to solve our citizens’ problems. They get so much money, what’s so hard about a little grievance?”

Deva pouted: "Why do I feel like you're somewhat hostile towards these city hall officials? It's not objective at all."

"What do I care? They're all essentially scapegoats for Parliament. You're saying Parliament didn't consider this scenario when it ordered the purchase of government bonds? Then I can only say they're useless."

"What if the peace in Harua has lasted too long, and those congressmen really didn't expect that?"

“But they didn’t prevent these city hall people from resigning.” DuPont pointed to himself: “They even asked me to handle the desert academy matter before, but you see, I handled it without them. They didn’t resign even after all that trouble in the old capital. I think they still want to work here. It’s all their own choice.”

"Didn't you say before that it was because the benefits offered by Parliament weren't enough?"

"Isn't this just one way of putting it? Can I say that I'm incompetent and can't handle it?" DuPont chuckled. "Alright, let's go. We need to avoid this situation, otherwise even if the Speaker himself comes, he'll probably get spit in his face."

"But."

"Hey, our people are all very simple and kind. You forgot about faction detection. Most of these people are neutral and kind good people. There aren't many people like me who are in a chaotic faction."

DuPont interrupted Deva with a grin: "What, do you mean everyone is a really bad person who wants to do bad things to overthrow the parliament's rule? I don't think it's that bad."

“That’s true.” The paladin girl thought for a moment, “Then we should do nothing? That wouldn’t be very good.”

"Of course we should do it. We should bring everyone some cool well water so they don't lose their voices from shouting for so long." DuPont waved his hand. "Being too excited in the summer can easily lead to heatstroke. If many people get it, it will affect our work. And if a large-scale epidemic breaks out, that would be terrible."

"..." Deva looked at DuPont's serious face and blinked. "How come I never realized you were so wicked before?"

"What do you mean I'm bad? I'm doing all this for the greater good of peace and stability in Harua. Go ahead and learn from me."

(End of this chapter)