Claude took the two sheets of paper containing Maria's reply to his father upstairs and read them to his mother. When she heard the good news that Morssen's life was no longer in danger, she felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her heart. Her spirits were roused and she interrogated Claude for a long time before letting him go.
After returning to the study on the second floor, Claude looked out at the crowd on the streets and fell into deep thought.
There was one more problem he had to deal with: should he tell Eriksson about the fleet being wiped out by the pirates?
After being bedridden for half a month, Eriksson's body had recovered quite well and he could get up and walk around with some difficulty.
However, his mother, Eileen, said that he was still rather anxious and noisy. Before the new year, he would ask if there was any news of the fleet every day. But after the new year, he didn't say a word and would often stare at the docks from the window for most of the day.
Perhaps Eriksson himself had a premonition that the fleet had met with misfortune. It was already a week after the new year and the fleet still hadn't returned. It definitely wasn't due to the weather or some other reason that delayed their return.
Thinking that the fleet was fine and would return soon was just a lie. Many people in Whitestag had a tacit understanding that the fleet didn't make a big fuss about it because the two to three hundred families in town were involved in the fleet. Their relatives were all hired on the fleet.
Seven long-distance merchant ships and Captain Altroni's Shark of the Red Sea made up eight ships with close to three hundred sailors, crewmen, and guards on board.
For the sake of keeping the new trade route a secret, the people chosen by the fleet were mostly people from Whitestag.
Claude knew very well that when the news of the fleet was officially announced, there would be a huge uproar in Whitestag.
Who knew how many survivors would be able to return to Whitestag in the future. Captain Altroni took that into consideration and only gave the order to surrender after he couldn't hold out against the pirates did he do so in order to protect the lives of the sailors who followed him on the voyage.
But what he didn't expect was that the pirates didn't release them after the kidnapping. Instead, they forced them to surrender and join the pirate gang. Captain Altroni, who refused to become a pirate, was exiled to an uninhabited island in the Silent Ocean.
If Claude were to tell Eriksson about the news, he wasn't sure if he would be able to take it. It would be terrible if his condition relapsed. After some thought, Claude felt that he should keep it a secret and let nature take its course. When the news came in March, Eriksson's body should be able to take the heavy blow.
Another four days passed slowly. Mother's body could be said to have recovered by more than half. Now she could do some simple housework in the kitchen.
Claude went to the national bank again and received another three crowns in advance.
He was going to withdraw money for his sister's tuition fees. His sister was about to enter the first year of middle school, and the tuition fee was twelve thales. Two thales for meals and books had to be handed in before the fifteenth.
Until his father was released, Claude would have to carry the burden of the family.
Since he made a promise to his sister, he had to do it.
However, he only had one crown and two thales left in the ten-crown account Maria opened for him.
He would have to work for nothing in the wood for the rest of the year, as his salary had all been paid in advance.
How stupid I was that night. Why didn't I think of getting some money from the casino? Claude helped his sister pay for her school fees. Looking at her happy expression, he was reminded of his current lack of money. Should I go cause trouble with Blacksnake and get some money for myself while I'm at it?
The 15th of the 1st month was an important day for Whitestag. Two major events happened on that day.
The first was that the prefectural capital council approved Mayor Robert's proposal to form a garrison clan. As expected, the third proposal was accepted by the prefectural capital council. Bidlir Blanche, the owner of the fish processing factory, would donate his family's money to form the garrison clan. To commend his generosity, he was appointed as the fourth band jarl of the garrison clan and was also authorized to form the fourth band on his own.
However, the council was still clear-headed and didn't agree to Bidlir Blanche's donation for the maintenance of the garrison. Instead, they reduced the taxes that Whitestag had to pay to the prefectural capital by thirty percent, which amounted to around a thousand crowns, to be used for the maintenance of the garrison.
If it wasn't enough, the town hall would raise money from the townsfolk to make up for the difference.
The town hall was filled with the sound of drums and gongs.
The mayor, Baron Robert, gave a passionate speech to celebrate Whitestag's establishment of its own garrison.
The boss of the Blacksnake Gang, Bidlir Blanche, received the appointment letter from Mayor Robert as the owner of the fish processing plant. He announced the establishment of the 4th Garrison Band. The Blacksnakes waved their flags and cheered enthusiastically, feeling extremely pleased with themselves.
Welikro's father, the best hunter of Whitestag, Kubrik, watched the ceremony with a group of retired veterans.
Even though they were against Mayor Robert's proposal to set up the garrison force, there was nothing they could do about it now that it had been approved by the prefectural capital council.
They were all retired veterans, after all, and the formation of the garrison force couldn't be done without their participation.
As Mayor Robert read out the letters of appointment one after another, Kubrik's face grew darker and darker.
In the end, he didn't even hear his name being called out. Even the lame postman Borik was appointed as a communications squad leader, but he didn't receive his letter of appointment. It was obvious that Mayor Robert had excluded him from the formation of the garrison force.
Mayor Robert didn't have the ability to exclude all the retired veterans from the formation of the garrison force because he would be doubted or even arrested if he did.
That was why he magnanimously let go of those retired veterans who also opposed him, and only targeted Kubrik. He just had to find an excuse that Kubrik had a bad temper and wasn't suitable for teaching new recruits to kick Kubrik out from the formation of the garrison brigade.
The veterans who received the letters of appointment started to set up a recruitment point in the town square.
If Kubrik could become a band leader of the garrison force, Welikro might have signed up on the spot. Being able to serve in the army in his hometown would be a great thing for him.
Given his capabilities, he would be able to rise above the rest of the garrison force and obtain a low-ranking officer's position.
After all, many veterans had high hopes for his future and he would be taken care of better in the garrison force.
However, his father wasn't nominated by the town hall and couldn't serve in the garrison force. So, Welikro gave up on the idea and followed his unhappy father home.
For him, the recruitment of the garrison force had nothing to do with him.
Mister Morssen was arrested on charges of endangering the kingdom's security. As his second son, there was no way he would be recruited.
The kingdom's conscription rules stated that the garrison force members had to come from a clean family with no criminal records. That alone wouldn't allow him to pass.
It was said that many people were watching Bidlir Blanche to see what kind of people the boss of Blacksnake would recruit from the fourth band.
If he recruited the thugs and hoodlums of Blacksnake, there would surely be a lot of people reporting him.
However, Bidlir Blanche wasn't a fool. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become the boss of Blacksnake.
He was very clear about every step he had to take, so he also set up a recruitment point on the old street of the slums and carried out recruitment propaganda with great fanfare.
As for the members of the fourth band, they were all thugs who didn't commit any major crimes and didn't leave any criminal records in the patrol force. That disappointed the people watching him.
Apart from the official establishment of the garrison force, another major event was the arrival of a special envoy from the royal capital. Not long after he entered the camp, he announced that Mister Morssen and his friends had been exonerated on charges of endangering the kingdom's security in the name of the wise and benevolent Stellin X.
But before they were released, the envoy gave Mister Morssen and his friends a good scolding.
He told them that their greed had caused great losses to the kingdom's shipping, so Mister Morssen and the other three local officials were relieved of their duties, but they were allowed to keep their citizenship.
Compared to the uproar over the establishment of the garrison force, the release of Mister Morssen and his friends attracted more attention from the townspeople.
Many people went up to greet them and tried to find out why they were released from their mouths.
However, Mister Morssen and his friends weren't in the mood to deal with the onlookers and called for a carriage to be sent home.
Claude almost didn't recognize his father at first glance. Morssen was only 52 years old and looked to be in good spirits. He was well-dressed and had a refined demeanor, the epitome of a middle-aged local official.
But after being arrested and imprisoned in the military camp for more than ten days, although he didn't suffer any torture and didn't have to worry about food and clothing, he looked like he had suddenly aged ten years. His entire face and spirit looked like an old man in his sixties, and his hair on both sides of his temples were much whiter.
However, his mother was delighted that he was able to return in one piece. She kept circling around him, asking him about his health and asking him what he wanted to eat.
Even the snowhound, who didn't really like him, went up to sniff his pants and snuggled up to him.
After eating the lunch his mother made, Morssen went to take a bath and change into his nightgown. He called Claude to his study and asked him about what happened after he was arrested.
Angelina had already told him a lot during lunch. She mainly talked about the bad things that Arbeit had done and how happy she was to be able to go to middle school.
Claude told his father everything that happened after he was arrested.
He didn't exaggerate anything about Arbeit and told him the truth.
He only said that when he went to look for him, he heard someone mention that Arbeit was seen at the brothel in the old street, so he didn't go looking for him again.
In addition, he showed Maria's reply to his father. When he read that the merchant fleet was besieged by pirates and that Captain Altroni was forced to surrender, Mr. Morssen let out a long sigh. He looked at the scenery outside the window worriedly and did not say a word.
After a long while, he snapped out of it and waved Claude out. He wanted to think about it quietly for a while.
His mother was worried that Morssen would be sad about being relieved of his duties and hoped that Claude could spend more time with him.
However, Claude believed that his father would be able to get over it. A small town's administrative post wasn't worth mentioning in the eyes of a transmigrator.
Given his father's capabilities, he might be able to live a more exciting life after being relieved of his duties. That was how Claude comforted his mother.
In the afternoon, Claude went to the wood and patrolled the area before returning home.
He didn't think that he would see Arbeit kneeling on the ground and crying while hugging his father's legs. His anger flared up and he wanted to beat him up, but he was stopped by his mother.
She said, "Don't blame your brother. He had his reasons for doing that. He was trying to save his father, but he was tricked."