Chapter 149: Return to Mist City |
The Merisia rebel army was completely wiped out, their leaders were captured, and the Imperial Army returned to Mist City to a roaring ovation of thunderous applause and a passionate welcome—well, that part only existed in the imagination.
Although he had a few minor complaints about General Howe, Levi had to admit that managing the military operations of a great empire was truly no easy task. If you win, it is taken for granted.
Our Empire is currently so prosperous and powerful, how could we possibly fail to suppress a tiny rebellion in a remote border region?
And if you lose...
How on earth could you lose that?
Emperor Yang's three campaigns against Goguryeo had completely destroyed the Sui Dynasty, and the Tumu Crisis had set an entire empire on a downward slope. Fighting a smaller foe as the larger power actually came with immense pressure. Put into perspective, if his own country back in his past life had struggled to fight the minor nations to the southeast, Levi would have been just as displeased.
General Howe's painstakingly executed campaign merited only a few sparse lines in the Imperial newspapers: "The Imperial Army successfully suppressed the Merisia rebel army; its leaders and key members have been apprehended."
It was not even placed on the front page. This actually aligned perfectly with the mindset of the Empire's citizens. What could be so difficult about suppressing a rebellion in a wretched place like Merisia, where the treacherous terrain bred nothing but thugs? When the grand Imperial Army mobilized, victory was naturally an easy, guaranteed catch.
Therefore, among the public, there was practically no coverage of General Howe and his men. They were brushed past in a few brief words.
Furthermore, although General Howe had made a few strategic missteps, he highly praised Levi's actions upon returning to the country. This, naturally, became the focal point of the news media's reports.
As the old saying goes, dog bites man is not news; man bites dog is news. Was it news for the Imperial fleet to defeat a band of Merisian rebels armed with nothing but flintlocks? Of course not. But if a single man, relying solely on his own strength, captured the leader of the Merisian rebels and secured the Empire's victory in the region, was that news?
Now that was news!
Not to mention, Levi was not a soldier. At least on the surface, he remained the Empire's most famous detective. A detective locking down a victory for the Empire single-handedly greatly satisfied the vanity of the Imperial citizens. After all, there was nothing worth bragging about when the Imperial Army beat Merisia; it was practically an adult bullying a child. Splashing that across the front pages would only make the people of the Empire look petty.
But since Levi had settled the matter all by himself, it was well worth writing about extensively. It also fit the mindset of the Imperial citizens perfectly—look at how incredible our famous detective is; he can whip the Merisian rebel army into submission all by himself.
Naturally, this was also due to General Howe's flattery of Levi during his interviews. After all, General Howe knew how to return a favor. It was precisely because of Levi that the Imperial Army was able to eliminate the rebels hidden deep in the mountain forests with virtually zero casualties. From this perspective, Levi truly deserved the highest credit.
When Levi was interviewed, he was naturally not stupid enough to claim all the glory for himself. He praised the Imperial military to the high heavens.
And he wasn't entirely wrong. While it felt great for Levi to show off in the Continental Congress, if the Imperial fleet hadn't arrived afterward, was Levi really supposed to hack his way out of Feihat City like an invincible warrior? Wouldn't that be ridiculous?
Thus, Levi expressed that he had merely played a minor role, and that nothing could have been achieved without the powerful military of the Empire acting as his shield. In short, since they had won, it was best to exchange as many pleasantries as possible. A rising tide lifts all boats; you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours.
Of course, if they had lost, they would be shifting the blame onto each other and scrambling for survival.
The Imperial citizens were very receptive to this. Different countries had different cultures, and the Empire's culture was actually quite similar to Levi's homeland. Everyone appreciated those who were reserved, elegant, composed, proper, humble, and possessed gentlemanly manners. This was remarkably similar to his homeland's requirements for a Junzi.
Conversely, the people of the Empire kept a respectful distance from those who were boastful, overly passionate, self-centered, and pretentious—well, they might as well just read out a Francis citizen's identification number.
Simply put, these reports left the public highly satisfied. On one hand, Levi standing his ground alone against the Merisians perfectly satisfied the public's worship of heroes. On the other hand, Levi's praise of the Imperial military also satisfied the public's national pride regarding the Empire's might.
Naturally, the Royal Family could not let this pass without acknowledgement. When Levi returned to MI7 and handed the letter obtained from the Francis spy over to the Old Butler, the latter smiled merrily and told him that, considering Levi's performance in suppressing the rebellion in Merisia, the Royal Family had decided to award him the Distinguished Service Medal and the Imperial Cross Medal.
As a side note, Imperial medals were not something you could just pick up the moment you returned. The Empire's investiture followed strict traditions. In the first and second halves of the year, the Royal Family would publish an honors list in the newspapers. The honored figures would be listed, and their medals would be distributed all at once during the New Year's royal banquet.
On the list for the first half of the year, Levi's name was already present due to his success in solving several heinous cases in Mist City, earning him the Order of Merit—an award given to those who achieved great things in fields like art, music, literature, and politics. Clearly, Levi was receiving this medal because of the cases he had cracked.
Meanwhile, the Distinguished Service Medal was a military award specifically bestowed upon those who performed meritorious deeds against enemies during military operations.
Among these three honors, the most formidable was undoubtedly the Imperial Cross Medal, because it meant the recipient would attain a knighthood, joining the true nobility. This meant that starting next year, Levi would be addressed as Sir Levi.
Generally speaking, a simple counter-insurgency was not enough to merit the Imperial Cross Medal. However, Levi guessed that this was likely a covert accumulation of rewards for his resolution of the Imperial Bridge incident, the Baskerville family crisis, and the Northern Star affair. After all, while these matters weren't entirely forbidden from the light of day, his identity as a collaborator with MI7 had to remain confidential.
This was completely normal. No country's leader would openly commend their spies and secret agents on the front stage. Unless they were out of their mind.
If Her Majesty the Queen spoke about Levi and MI7 in front of a massive crowd, Levi would turn around and run as far away as possible. Fortunately, Her Majesty would not be that foolish.
"Congratulations! This means you'll be a knight, Sir Levi."
Katie sat on the sofa with a beaming smile, looking at Levi. After Levi's return, this young lady had, unsurprisingly, run over to the Clock Tower again to join in on the excitement.
"That will have to wait until after the investiture ceremony. It's still too early for now."
When it came to celebrating too early, Levi had always politely declined.
"Then in the future, will I have to address you as Sir, master?" Irene also asked curiously from the side. As a girl from an ordinary family, this was her first time seeing a noble up close.
"Yes, you'll have to call him Sir from now on. Though really, it's about the same... Oh, right." As she spoke, Katie suddenly bounced over to Levi's side. "Mr. Levi, have you thought about where you want your fief to be?"
"Is that question up to me to decide? Shouldn't the Royal Family choose it for me?"
Facing Katie's inquiry, Levi rolled his eyes. A knight naturally received a fief. However, this was no longer the Middle Ages; it wasn't as simple as handing over a random castle or a small village. Fundamentally, the Royal Family would carve out a piece of land from the royal estates to give to Levi—after all, that was how noble enfeoffment worked. Just as a feudal lord would dub a knight, they would grant land from within their own domain. After all, a vassal's vassal is not my vassal.
If the Royal Family wanted to grant Levi land, they would certainly pick a place from their own holdings rather than being generous at someone else's expense. For instance, granting him a piece of land from the Baskerville family's Delicat Region—that was absolutely impossible.
Yet Katie made it sound like they were strolling through a department store, as if he could just pick whatever he wanted. If only such a good thing actually existed.
"Then wouldn't it be great if you stayed in Mist City? Everyone can still see each other often."
"I want to as well. It's better than going to some remote mountainous area."
Levi let out a sigh. He truly had no idea what kind of place the Royal Family would grant him. In all fairness, Levi did not want to leave Mist City. This was a world of rapid industrial development, and a political and economic center like Mist City was undoubtedly the place where information circulated fastest and where one could best enjoy the benefits of progress.
Just like in his past life, why did everyone squeeze their heads off trying to get into the top-tier mega-cities? It was because everything was convenient there. If you stayed in a second- or third-tier city, you couldn't even buy a freshly released console game. You had to remember that back then, there were no fast couriers, let alone free shipping zones; a single letter taking ten days to half a month to arrive was completely normal.
What Levi feared most was the Royal Family finding a piece of land for him in Merisia... if that happened, he wouldn't even be able to cry. That was a truly wretched place where the treacherous terrain bred nothing but thugs. Levi hadn't come to this world to engage in poverty alleviation.
Yet, this possibility was actually quite high. After all, Merisia was now completely back in the Empire's hands. The original rulers of the cities in the Merisia Region were surely being executed or imprisoned by the Empire, leaving a massive number of vacancies that required personnel.
If he were sent to Merisia, it would basically be no different from being exiled to the wilderness. Not to mention, given his current "reputation" in Merisia, the people who wanted to kill him probably couldn't even get a number if they lined up. Sending him to Merisia would be walking straight into the lion's den.
Hopefully, Her Majesty the Queen would not be so heartless. This was precisely why, even though he was about to receive a noble title, Levi wasn't particularly thrilled. If he celebrated too early now only to turn around and be sent to Merisia, wouldn't he look like a total clown?
"Then you should just stay in Mist City. While you were gone, I felt like nothing outside was fun anymore."
I'm not here to play with you, young lady.
Levi complained inwardly, silently rolling his eyes. However, Katie's words did provide a piece of information.
"Has there been any unusual situation in Mist City lately?"
"It's been fine. At least there haven't been any particularly severe problems."
"Mm, that makes sense. After that incident with the Holy Lord Church, the enemy shouldn't have another opportunity to strike at Mist City anytime soon."
Her Majesty the Queen was swift and decisive. Using the Imperial Bridge incident as a pretext, she had wiped out almost all of the Holy Lord Church's strongholds in Mist City. Following the religious reform, even if those Luddites or mystics wanted to pull something off, there was a short-term lack of fertile soil for them to stir up major news in Mist City.
After chatting with Levi for a while longer, Katie bid her farewell and left, a young girl who always came and went like a gust of wind. But Levi was already used to it.
"Mr. Levi, should we hire a few more servants?" After seeing Katie out, Irene looked at Levi with a hint of unease and spoke up.
"Hmm?"
"Because, if you are to become a noble, master, there will surely be many people coming to visit in the future. With only me alone, I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it..."
Irene's line of thinking was reasonable. Right now, Levi could only be considered an ordinary citizen, so having one maid to look after him was sufficient. But once he became a noble, things would change. Not only would he have to host other nobles, but a steady stream of visitors would also call upon him—Irene alone would clearly be stretched too thin.
"Yes, that is indeed a problem. But we can talk about it after the investiture. There's still nearly half a year until the New Year's banquet, so there's no need to rush."
Levi had already made up his mind. If the other party really gave him a piece of land in Merisia as his fief, he would directly refuse the title. What was wrong with staying in Mist City to eat, drink, and live out his days? Why did he have to run off to that ghost of a place to alleviate poverty? He wasn't an Imperial civil servant, after all. There was no need to bend over backward and work himself to death for the Empire.
Ding-dong.
Just as Levi and Irene were talking, the elevator bell suddenly rang once more. Levi raised his head to look and saw the elevator come to a halt. The doors opened, and a young lady with golden curls, dressed in highly elegant and luxurious attire, stepped inside.
"Hello, Mr. Levi. It has been a long time."
Olivia casually handed her overcoat to Irene, who had hurriedly rushed to her side, and greeted Levi with a gentle smile.
"Hello, Miss Olivia. I truly didn't expect you to come to Mist City." Levi returned the greeting, walking forward with quite a bit of surprise. "Has something happened to the Baskerville family again?"
"Though there are some minor issues, I can handle them all. Besides, Little Black is here."
"Little Black?"
Seemingly hearing someone call its name, Levi watched as a tiny puppy poked its head out from Olivia's embrace, letting out a soft "woof" toward Levi.
"It has been a long time for you as well."
Looking at the cute little puppy before him, Levi could only wave his hand. If he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes, who could have guessed that this creature was actually a ferocious Infernal Three-Headed Hound?
"I read the newspapers. It seems you caused quite a stir in Merisia recently?"
"It was alright. I can only say I was forced by circumstances." Levi shrugged his shoulders, causing Olivia's eyes to light up.
"Then would you be interested in taking a long trip with me?"
"A long trip?"
"Yes. I intend to go to the Bisbaru Region to attend the Steam Creations Expo that will be held there soon. At the same time, I want to see if there are any steam machines suitable for our Delicat. As you know, the harvest season is approaching soon. If I want to demonstrate the benefits of steam machinery to the people of Delicat, there is no better opportunity than this!"
"Mm, that's true..."
Levi was well aware of the sheer power of industrialized harvesting, which was far superior to manual labor. It seemed this young lady was truly putting her entire heart and soul into the development of the Delicat Region.
However, the Steam Creations Expo in Bisbaru... Levi had actually seen mentions of it in the newspapers. It was somewhat like a combination of the World Expo and a grand trade fair from his past life. Hmm... lately, he didn't have much to do in Mist City anyway, so going to have a look around wasn't a bad idea. It was just that Katie would definitely complain about not being able to find him again.
"Just to be clear, we won't be traveling by boat this time, right?"
When returning to the Empire, Levi had taken the military's aerial battleship. In any case, he was absolutely never boarding a sea vessel again.
"Of course not," Olivia said with a playful smile. "I plan to take the Orient Express there! What do you say? Would you like to come along, Mr. Levi?"
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