OR1-EP4: Prelude to the Millennium (15)

Despite Governor-general Herzog's best efforts to bring in a large number of legislators, it remains to be seen whether or not those people will keep their respective promises when it comes time to vote. If Governor-general Herzog had not prepared countermeasures beforehand, there would have been no way for him to force those legislators to be on the same side of the trenches as him. For now, Jacob Herzog's biggest disadvantage was that Paris was not his home base, and by trying to mobilize his manpower to arrange a new plan he would inevitably expose himself to the scrutiny of others.

"What have to be done is done." The Governor-general, returning to his hotel, said to McNeil, "We have only to wait for the results of tomorrow's vote."

McNeil walked around the room distracted, fearing the dire consequences of defeat. Without the official backing of the Senate, Governor-general Herzog's initiatives in South Africa had no legitimacy, and no one would be able to control the rebellious actions of the African Britannians when the time came. There were many candidates who could calm the chaos and restore order, but the only one who could safeguard the interests of the citizens of South Africa was Governor-general Herzog. No one could expect an outsider parachuted into Africa from the mainland to genuinely think about the local population; it was still more reliable to be a local.

"You rest first." McNeil said goodbye to the Governor-general, intending to return to his room. Unexpectedly, as soon as he took a step, the Governor-general called out to him from behind.

"You've met the Emperor?"

McNeil stiffly turned his head and looked warily at the Governor-general who suddenly asked the question. After so many days had passed, Governor-general Herzog had never cross-examined him about the events that had taken place in the Britannian Empire, and now that the Governor-general was talking about it in a peaceful manner, there was bound to be a different motive.

McNeil slowly raised his right hand and buttoned the top button of his shirt.

"Correct." He replied briefly. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, McNeil felt that the response was a bit hasty, or came across as a lack of respect for the Governor-general. He averted his gaze slightly and added, "A very dignified man, fitting most people's stereotype of a leader."

"So, the rumors are true." The Governor-general sighed, "That Emperor Charles won't be willing to be stuck in the New World, he'll definitely start a war in the future. Some people's threats only remain verbal, while others are natural war mongers."

McNeil realized that there had to be a reason behind the Governor's change in attitude. He cautiously opened his mouth to ask:

"What's happening over there in South Africa?"

"Not a great deal." The Governor-general first set the tone for the nature of the matter. His withered left hand trembled as he picked up the pair of black-framed glasses and put them on the bridge of his nose, "However, after a period of peace and quiet, Britannia's intelligence agents have begun to operate again. Unlike the last time, this time they didn't seem to have a unified command, but rather presented themselves as scattered soldiers. What exactly happened during this period is unknown."

After the end of the rebellion historically known as the Blood Coat of Arms Incident, the Britannian Empire massacred and exiled the opposition, with more than two and a half thousand nobles killed, and the three Knights of the Rounds who had survived after launching the revolt were sentenced to beheading. The Emperor's own uncle, Grand Duke Louis, as the culprit, should have been dragged to the beheading according to the law, but the Emperor specially mercifully allowed members of the royal family to cut themselves. Unexpectedly, the Grand Duke Louis had the guts to rebel but not the guts to commit suicide, and finally let the attendant military officials do it for him.

"He did promise." McNeil spat out a few words with difficulty. He reached out to hold a side table, only then noticing that his palms were sweaty.

"A monarch's promises are less reliable than a beggar's kindness." The Governor-general glanced at McNeil and lowered his head to look at the report card in his hand, "I'd rather believe he's trying to save money ... Never mind, I seemed to have devalued your credit by saying that just now. When we get back to South Africa, I'll have to find a way to hang every last one of these traitors in front of the Governor's house."

The Governor-general shooed McNeil away, he needed a good rest for a while. McNeil, however, was losing sleep; while he had guessed that there might be such a boring outcome as the Britannian Empire not being able to control an intelligence agency (especially if that agency might be manipulated by the nobility), the resurgence of Britannian espionage in South Africa was always bad news. He thought back carefully to his last days in the Britannian Empire, when he had met with Emperor Charles, and the endless emptiness in the other man's eyes. Whereas regular people committed acts of plunder to fill a void within, Charles seemed to be nothing more than a shell of whatever ideals were pinned on him.

He thought of many things, of tobacco and alcohol. McNeil pushed these stray thoughts aside and forced himself into sleep. The day greeted him with an unbelievably strange and eerie dream, and he enjoyed a full hours descent - a bottomless abyss below, with no end in sight. When he awoke the next morning, he found himself lying on the floor and the air conditioning in his room had stopped working.

McNeil ran into the bathroom and took a shower, changed out of his sweat-soaked clothes, and hastily fixed his hair before he dared to walk out of the room pretending to look refreshed. The first thing he did after leaving the hotel was to run and inquire about the results of the vote, which was not enough to get him into the Senate. Senator Charles Malcal found McNeil in the bookstore where he had agreed to meet beforehand after the morning session had adjourned.

"Though the process was thrilling, it was finally a win." Councilor Malcal said smugly, "171 votes in favor, 13 abstentions, and 52 against. Anyway, you can go and report the good news to His Excellency."

McNeil's heart nearly popped out of his chest as he hurriedly thanked the councilor before quickly returning to the hotel to find the Governor-general. The guards watching the door to the Governor's room told him that the Governor-general was still sleeping and that no one should disturb him without an emergency.

"We won." McNeil said briefly, "Those people seem to know how to do things."

The guards looked pleased as well, and without regard for decency, they decided to wake Governor-general Herzog. The sleepy Governor-general had just heard the news and his overflowing fatigue immediately vanished without a trace. He quickly dressed for the outing and barked orders at his subordinates who kept arriving:

"This is a great moment that belongs to the citizens of South Africa. Let us celebrate it today for the time being, and wait until we return to South Africa, where more difficult work awaits us."

The proposal adopted by the Senate was divided into three main parts, the core of which was to strengthen the control of Governor-general Herzog and the colonial administration in South Africa in the current situation. Pursuant to Section 6 of the South African Colonial Resource Integration Act, the Governor-generalalty has the power to use all means to force the South African local self-governance institutions back to their original state when they lose their function of maintaining the basic order of production as a result of disorganization caused by various reasons. In addition, according to chapter 5, section 43, of the URE Emergency Authorization Act, a citizen who confronts the EU authorities by violent means, paralyzes part or all of a district or incites in any way against the republican system automatically loses all citizenship rights in the event of a substantiated case. Over the years, the Parisian authorities will not mind showing an iron fist whenever opposition from citizens can form an effective threat.

"We're now the agents of justice." McNeil bought a newspaper from the street and showed it to Governor-general Herzog, "You see, both the Senate and the Consul have claimed that the unrest in Rhodesia is an act of organized armed rebellion."

"Napoleon Bonaparte was also fooled by the fake newspaper." The Governor-general said humorously.

"You know I don't have the guts to fake it." McNeil was all smiles as he saw the hope of getting South Africa back to normal. Now that Governor-general Herzog's operation in Paris was over, it was time for McNeil to take care of the personal business that was still pending. He had finally chosen an address for old Jake Land, and the house was a bargain, selling for about seventy thousand euros - that was, of course, for the prize money in old Jack's hands. On top of that, McNeil had also chosen a housekeeper for old Jack, an Algerian in his forties who had previously cared for employers who had become paralyzed or turned into vegetative states. McNeil had reason to believe that a housekeeper with the patience to care for such patients should know how to take care of old people carefully.

McNeil asked the butler to meet him in a tavern, and the two men had a friendly conversation.

"It isn't easy to raise five children, is it?" Knowing that the other man's doctrine did not allow alcohol, McNeil took a couple of Cokes and handed them to the seated Algerian.

"It's okay. If it's just a matter of getting by, it's not a problem." The butler sighed, "But it will be hard to make them respectable people later."

McNeil empathized with that. Not to mention that the Algerian in front of him was just an ordinary person, the dignitaries who occupied a large amount of resources often did not have the ability to raise their own children into characters with the same abilities as themselves. The world says that people should live happily, but no one in the world can completely sever the link with society - when everyone needs to bear the pressure from society, it is nonsense to talk about happiness. Escaping from modern society is the easiest and most effective way, and I wonder if those who have chosen this path will regret it.

"How many years have you been in this business?"

"Twenty years." The butler watched McNeil's every move, he didn't dare to slow down this mysterious man who could pay a lot of money to hire people to do his work, "I couldn't afford to go to college, and got out of the workforce early."

"Fortunately, you have at least gone to school for many years ... When I went to the Britannian Empire, I saw that the children they had there couldn't even go to elementary school before they had to go work for the nobles." McNeil's mood couldn't help but become heavy as well. This Algerian was struggling to survive in the EU, but after all, he only had to worry about the pressure from life rather than the butcher's knife hanging over his head at all times. When even living a peaceful life became a luxury, citizens would only choose to rise up.

"Don't worry, I'll fulfill the work you entrusted me with diligently."

"I hope I can trust your statement." McNeil twirled the wine glass in his hand, "A widowed man with millions of euros in his hands can easily attract the attention of criminals." Speaking here, McNeil leaned slightly closer to the other party and lowered his voice to offer a warning, "Don't get any ideas that you shouldn't have. Otherwise, I'll consider thinking about climbing out of hell to take you away."

To McNeil's disappointment, the Algerian was too honest, so honest that no matter how much McNeil stimulated him, he would not put up any resistance. With little interest McNeil made a few more arrangements for follow-up and then gave him a sum of money to go home and settle down for a few days.

He didn't know what to make of such people. McNeil saw an exciting life full of challenges and opportunities, while some people's lives were as choppy as a pool of stagnant water. Was it courage or ability they lacked? Who has robbed them of what should have been a colorful life? McNeil didn't want to know, and he didn't want to know. Sometimes he knew the answer, sometimes he avoided it, and throughout he chose to remain silent.

The owner of the tavern went to the back to organize the clutter, leaving McNeil sitting alone at the front counter staring into his unfinished Coke. A tall figure in a black robe walked into the tavern and sat down next to McNeil.

"How would you think you can escape?"

McNeil judged from the familiar voice that the other party was the mysterious man who had led him to this new world.

"Why would I escape?"

The mysterious man pulled out a timer from his pocket and handed it to McNeil.

"There are still 120 days left, make the most of it." He paused and continued, "And ... only the dead don't have to flee."

McNeil was just about to ask the other party a few words in return when the mysterious man in the black robe suddenly disappeared without a trace. The tavern owner stepped out from the back room and looked suspiciously at Michael McNeil, who was thinking about life into the air.

Michael McNeil picked up the timer and scrutinized the numbers on it. It was a mechanical device, beautifully crafted with a gold pattern, and looked like the sort of ornament that would be chained to the hand of some nobleman.

He flipped to the back of the timepiece, which had five letters written on it.

"Sodom."

McNeil was dumbfounded.

"What the hell? You think we're still living in the age of feudal superstition?"

He placed the timepiece in his pocket, settled the bill, and left the tavern with a flourish. He had more important things to do and couldn't waste time on such arcane issues.

Governor-general Jacob Herzog had thrown a lavish banquet at a grand hotel. According to the Governor-general himself, the banquet cost more money than McNeil would necessarily earn in a lifetime. The dinner was attended by a dozen or so legislators who had fallen out of favor and chosen to support the Governor-general, and who came with brand new terms to continue negotiations with him.

"What about such trivial matters, you can all contact my most reliable assistants." Governor-general Herzog introduced McNeil to the bigwigs, "I'm sure the cooperation between us will be quite lasting."

Looking at the legislators with their varying demeanors, McNeil knew that the Governor-general had thrust him into a position that was used to deflect fire.

"A good cooperation relationship indeed." He made a formulaic reply like a machine.

TBC

Chapter Notes:

Perhaps Napoleon was deceived by erroneous newspaper information before he decided to claim the throne.

It's specifically mentioned in the light novel version of Code Geass: Akito the Exiled that the two countries, Algeria and Ukraine, were not in good status in the EU.