OR1-EP3: The Bloody Coat of Arms (5)

At the exhibition that day, merchants and engineers from the EU spared no effort in selling innovative products and technologies to the nobles of the Britannian Empire, but most of the nobles present were not interested. Other than those nobles who specialized in technology development related work, more people were addicted to relying on real estate and finance to make money.

"You are right, but we have a faster way to acquire these technologies ... as long as we pay for them." A nobleman responded as follows as McNeil told him about ideas related to mobile communications, "Besides, it's not good for technology to become widespread. The more those commoners have, the more likely they are to have thoughts they shouldn't."

This statement left McNeil speechless. Father Palaskas was equally dissatisfied with the arrogance of the nobles, and he explained to McNeil that the current situation in the Britannian Empire had similarities to the Indian castes instead. From the commoners to the nobles, specific groups of each different class were only responsible for their own part of the job, serving as parts of the empire. Their entire meaning in life is to carry on the cause of their forefathers and make it their sole pursuit in life.

"For example, the Weinbergs are known for their military service, and members of their family have been in the military for almost generations." The priest explained to McNeil, "Throughout the Britannian Empire, whether it's nobles or commoners, their jobs are determined by their ancestors, and they can only play their roles in the same position. The empire is a super machine, and all people are its parts, that's how it is."

"And the people who can't play that role-"

"They're not welcomed by the Empire's mainstream society." The priest looked at the nobles who were leaving the meeting in twos and threes, "There is a price to be paid for straying from the norm, and being in the Britannian Empire is an even greater price to pay."

Bradowww von Breisgau was going to go with McNeil to another neighborhood to visit nobles or commoners who were interested in fleeing to the EU, the matter was strictly confidential and no one could predict their itinerary. McNeil greeted the priest and told him to return to the hotel on his own while he and Bradowww went there to check on the survival of the exiles. Business related to the exiles had been brisk, with the Britannian Empire able to use the opportunity to confiscate all of the exiles' homes, while the EU got some fighters who were staunchly opposed to the Britannian Empire (or at least to the reigning Emperor at the time). After a while, both sides gave up on this kind of event, and let the nobles who had lost their various struggles to escape to the EU. the Britannian commoners didn't have a chance to go into exile, they couldn't afford a boat ticket to the EU or a plane ticket to the EU, and their entire fortune wouldn't be enough to pay for a ticket to the EU, and they'd probably end up chopping down trees in the Amazon rainforest after being exposed - a treatment that might be comparable to going to the Siberia to build railroads.

The two men walked side by side to the limousine waiting at the door, and McNeil was the first to ask:

"Your Excellency, have you ever heard of a family called the Lamperouge?"

"Lamperouge?" Bradowww blinked, "Oh, if you're asking what celebrities in the Empire have that surname now, the most famous would be the Knight of the Six. But the family ... I'm sorry, I have no recollection of it."

"That's okay. I was just asking casually, after all, I don't know much about your country and wanted to know more about common sense." McNeil took the initiative to pull open the door of the limousine, allowing the duke to go in first, "So, what are the more famous noble families in the Empire?"

"Many. Some are old nobles exiled from Europe, and some are new nobles that have only developed in the New World." Bradowww replied, "There are about eight or so families that are both powerful and prestigious at the moment, and they control the entire Britannian Empire."

The car started, the limousine driving through the busy streets towards the slightly depressed suburbs. With the Imperial Palace and its attached palace complex as its centerpiece, Pendragon, the capital of the Britannian Empire, marked hierarchy and order from the inside out. The emperor was at the heart of the city, with the nobles surrounding the imperial power on the periphery, and the commoners and near-slave-like drudges on the outermost layer. Some nobles have no position in the court and are not members of the cabinet, but they still have private homes in Pendragon and spend about half the year living there. The fact that the foreign embassy district was almost on the same level as the nobles' residential district showed how much the Empire valued these foreign envoys.

The travelers on the road were always careful not to know whether each stranger passing in front of them was a commoner or a nobleman. The nobility of Britannian had once held supreme authority, and the commoners had been nothing more than the property of the nobility, a situation that had been resolved with the abolition of slavery by Imperial Chancellor Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, but the situation had not improved further. Some of the older generation often complained that whereas in the past the aristocracy would still love the commoners on the basis that they were property, now that they were theoretically free, the aristocracy was free to oppress the commoners without fear of suffering any loss.

"But at least it's a significant progress."

"Yeah." Bradowww's face was a bit gloomy, "It's not enough to just abolish slavery, if the rights of the commoners aren't practically safeguarded from other aspects, then the commoners will remain de facto serfs. In your EU, a similar situation is playing out, and the natives are in a terrible situation."

"So why didn't previous emperors wipe out these nobles in one fell swoop?"

"Emperors have nearly unlimited power in theory, but as long as the emperor himself is incompetent, that power will fall to the magnate nobles who control the current situation." Bradowww von Breisgau pointed at a statue in the distance, "See that? That's Duke Lorenzo of the Soresi family, there are countless nobles like him who have become power players, and the emperor is nothing more than a pawn for them."

To be precise, in the Britannian Empire, only those who stood at the top were the victors, and all the rest, even the emperor himself, were victims. Otherwise, Emperor Charles wouldn't have become an orphan at a young age with both his parents dead. However, even those who were truly in power were not allowed to rest in peace, they had to face an endless number of nobles, and this group of bone knockers had become one of the greatest hazards that hindered the Britannian Empire. From Emperor Charles' speech, McNeil guessed the emperor's next move. The new emperor would inevitably take aim at the hereditary nobles who relied on their bloodlines and took up resources for nothing, but if he just fostered a large group of new nobles, then this change of scenery would only lead to the next civil unrest a few years later.

The car stopped near a rotten building. Duke Bradoww stepped out of the car and pulled out McNeil, who was still thinking about life.

"So, what will your emperor do?"

"His Imperial Majesty's idea is that the nobles of Britannia should have abilities commensurate with their status, and should be eliminated without them." Bradoww looked at the rotten building in front of him, not knowing what he was thinking, "Not only that, he also thinks that the royal family must also undergo this test, even if they are members of the royal family, dying because of incompetence is the same as a commoner, and is not at all worth lamenting." Saying this, the duke suddenly revealed a smile, "However, I see this as a good change ... nobles and commoners are finally on the same starting line, which is only fair."

"To hell with it." McNeil cursed. Bradoww looked at the youth from EU in surprise, and the squire and driver behind him also showed a disgruntled look.

"I don't want to upset you, but I'll say it anyway - it's a trick." McNeil sneered, "Look, if someone were to hold a tournament right now, and asked everyone to compete fairly on their own merit only, but some people are born to eat strong and strong, while others are malnourished and skinny. The strong one beats the weak one, perhaps not because the former has more ability, but because he happens to be born in a fortunate family and the latter is unfortunate. It is not so much a matter of fair play, your honor, as it is simply a matter of fixing the power of the nobility by lawful means."

The crowd was horrified, and all said that McNeil was bewitching the people, and cursed him. Bradoww put a stop to the invective and said kindly to McNeil:

"I know you must have a lot of opinions about us as an EU citizen ... That's okay, all people learn gradually from their failures, and perhaps His Imperial Majesty will have other better ideas in the future."

The group walked towards the compound below the rotten buildings and started searching for the exiles. According to Bradow von Breisgau, the rotten buildings were built around 1990 of the A.T.B. Calendar, and as a result, the developers have since gone bankrupt, and the buildings have been put on hold, becoming one of the slums of Pendragon. Many nobles considered the existence of such lots to be a blasphemy against His Imperial Majesty and the majesty of the Empire, and strongly demanded that all of these rotten buildings be eradicated, but the late Emperor Stephen II and the current Emperor Charles III agreed that the existence of such slums could serve as a control sample to motivate the commoners and unmotivated nobles to try to work hard for the empire, and so decided to keep them in place. As it turned out, a few years later there were bankrupt noblemen displaced here, who should have been grateful that the emperor had given them a place to stay. Due to the complexity of the population here, the exiles later decided to use this place as a transit point as well.

Bradow came and went around a few times without finding anyone, he muttered to himself:

"Strangely, where have they all been hiding?"

McNeil suggested they search upstairs. There was no elevator, and the group climbed twenty floors on foot from the stairs before reaching their destination, and found before them dozens of ragged, downtrodden men cowering and shivering in corners. Braddock scanned back and forth a few times and raised his voice to shout at them:

"Who is in charge here? Why are there so many people missing all of a sudden?"

Several people stood up at the same time and complained to Bradow in a chorus of voices. It turned out that just more than half an hour ago, a few white-robed guys came here with a large group of people, indiscriminately arresting suspicious people everywhere, and many of them were taken away, and they only managed to escape because they were hiding on the top floor. McNeil stood by and watched these beggar-like former nobles crying to Bradow about their ordeal, thinking that the Britannian nobles might all end up in this situation one day.

The duke sighed and walked up to McNeil's eyes and said with a heavy heart:

"Let us forget such a joke ... I also did not expect this kind of thing to happen. They used to conduct investigations quite often before, but I've never heard of them actually coming to arrest someone with great fanfare."

"Either the information has been leaked, or there is some other reason forcing those who could sit back and do nothing about it before to make a move."

"Makes sense." The duke looked at his watch, "They were trusting me with their lives; now that something has happened to them, I can't just sit back and do nothing."

However, the only one left amongst all the people present who still had a say in the court was Bradow, and it was useless for the others even if they were in a hurry. The Britannian Empire also seemed to have strict rules on dress code, with gold and red being the most honorable, followed by white and purple and so on. The Knights of the Round who were directly under the emperor himself wore white robes, but similar clothing existed in other knightly orders as well, and it was impossible to conclude the origins of those people just by the color of their clothing. The exiles did not memorize any valuable patterns, and the crowd had no way of knowing which group to bargain with.

Things were getting sinister for the exiles. Their lives were being seriously threatened, and the Empire could move to take them away at any time. Bradow von Breisgau wanted an assurance or action on the part of the EU to protect the remaining men, these were future EU citizens and there was no reason for the EU to see them suffer in vain. However, McNeil had no say in these matters at all, he was essentially just a semi-spy who had been placed within the Mission by Governor-general Herzog to spy and secretly conduct sabotage. Once he made any rash promises here, it would be the EU's credit that would be overdrawn.

"The matter is too important for me to give a casual reply." McNeil immediately changed the topic, "Besides, judging from this arrest, your side has increased its surveillance efforts. If we do something that upsets the balance at this time, the relationship between the two countries will be affected ..."

"It was my carelessness." Bradow said with chagrin, "It's okay, it's kind of our own mistake. I would like you to inform them about this when you return to the embassy, even if they only intend to provide symbolic support. I will also inquire with the other nobles, and it would be best if we could get them to release all of these people who have been arrested."

It was evening by the time McNeil got back to the inn, and fearing to alarm the embassy, he only told Father Palaskas about the incident. He never expected a positive response from the priest, who had always preferred passivity.

"If you ask me, it's best that we stay out of this matter." The priest said, "It's not like we forced them into exile with a gun, they should be left to deal with all the accidents that happened before they set foot on our soil."

"For God's sake, why don't they choose to go into exile in Japan or the Chinese Federation?" McNeil was furious, "Cleric, they want to come to us as new citizens, then we can't let them regret their choice."

The cleric stared at McNeil seriously and after a few seconds was defeated.

"You win. For God's sake, I'll handle this."

TBC

Chapter Notes:

It is not very unusual for nobles who have lost the brutal struggle for the Britannian Empire to go into exile.

It is noteworthy that the Emperor Charles had many nobles of German descent among his cronies (Breisgau, Weinberg, Stadtfeld, Ernst, and other surnames). This may have been an attempt to check the Hispanic, Portuguese, and French within the empire.