Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 149 Returning to the Foggy City
The Melesian rebels were completely annihilated, their leader was arrested, and the Imperial army returned to the Fog City, where they were greeted with thunderous applause and a warm welcome—well, all of the above exists only in imagination.

Although he had some reservations about General Hao, Li Wei had to admit that military operations by major powers were sometimes really difficult.

We won, it's only natural.

With our empire now so powerful, how could we possibly fail to quell even a small rebellion on the border?
We lost... How the hell could we lose?
Yang Guang's three campaigns against Goguryeo destroyed the Sui Dynasty, and the Battle of Tumu caused the entire country to decline. Fighting a smaller country with a larger one is sometimes a very stressful thing.

Even today, if Li Wei had a hard time fighting off the monkeys in the southeast, he would be unhappy.

General Hao's meticulously planned operation was only briefly mentioned in the imperial newspapers with the headline "Imperial army successfully suppressed the Melisian rebels, and their leaders and key members were arrested."

It wasn't even on the front page.

This actually aligns with the mentality of the empire's citizens. How difficult could it be to quell a rebellion in a place like Melicia, a poor and remote place teeming with unruly people? With the empire's army mobilized, it would be a piece of cake, a piece of cake.

Therefore, in popular culture, there is basically no description of General Hao and others; they are only mentioned briefly.

Conversely, they wrote extensively about Li Wei's actions during the suppression of the rebellion.

On one hand, Levi's actions in Melisia were indeed unexpected. He single-handedly stormed the Continental Council and, in the name of the Empire and the Queen, arrested the rebel leader without flinching before those "barbarians of Melisia." This greatly demonstrated the glory and prestige of the Empire.

Furthermore, although General Hao made some strategic mistakes, he greatly praised Li Wei's actions after returning home. This naturally became the focus of news media reports.

As the saying goes, it's not news when a dog bites a man, it's news when a man bites a dog.

Is it news that the Imperial Fleet defeated the rebels in Melisia who only had muskets?
This is certainly not news.

But if someone single-handedly arrests the leader of the Melesian rebels and secures victory in the suppression of the rebellion, is that news?

This is what news should be!

Not to mention, Li Wei wasn't a soldier; at least on the surface, he remained the Empire's most famous detective. The fact that a single detective could single-handedly secure victory in Melisia greatly satisfied the vanity of the Empire's citizens. After all, there was nothing to say about the Imperial army defeating Melisia; it was practically an adult bullying a child. To make a big deal out of it would only make the Empire seem petty.

But Li Wei single-handedly handled all of this, which is worthy of being written about in detail, and it also fits the mentality of the imperial people—look how amazing our famous detective is, he can single-handedly subdue your Melisian rebels.

Of course, this was also due to General Hao's praise of Li Wei in an interview—after all, General Hao knew how to return favors. It was precisely because of Li Wei that the Imperial Army was able to eliminate the rebels hiding in the mountains with almost zero casualties. From this point of view, Li Wei was indeed a great contributor.

When Li Wei was interviewed, he was naturally not foolish enough to take all the credit for himself, and he also boasted a lot about the imperial army.

That's not wrong, actually. Although Li Wei had a great time showing off at the Continental Conference, if the Imperial fleet hadn't arrived later, would Li Wei have really had to fight his way out of Fehart City all by himself?
Isn't that ridiculous?
Li Wei then acknowledged that he played a role in the victory, but stated that it wouldn't have been possible without the empire's powerful military backing—in short, since they had won, they naturally wanted to say the best things. It's common for everyone to flatter each other; if you praise me, I'll praise you in return.

Of course, if they lose, they'll naturally shift the blame and abandon each other when disaster strikes.

The people of the empire readily accepted this. Each country has its own unique culture, and the empire's culture was actually somewhat similar to that of Livy's country. People generally appreciated those who were reserved, elegant, composed, dignified, humble, and gentlemanly. This was quite similar to the requirements for a gentleman in Livy's country.

Conversely, the Imperials kept their distance from those who were boastful, overly enthusiastic, egotistical, and pretentious—well, let's just say they had Francis's ID number.

In short, these reports satisfied the public. On the one hand, Livy's ability to hold his own against the Melistians perfectly aligned with the empire's veneration of heroes. On the other hand, Livy's praise and glorification of the imperial army also satisfied the public's national pride in the empire's power.

Of course, the royal family couldn't remain silent about this. When Levi returned to MI7 and handed the letter he had obtained from Francis's spy to the old butler, the latter told him with a smile that, considering Levi's performance in suppressing the rebellion in Melisia, the royal family had decided to award him the Medal of Distinguished Service and the Imperial Cross.

One more thing to mention: you can't just go back and collect the Imperial medals. The Imperial conferment of honors follows a set procedure. In the first and second half of the year, the Imperial Royal Family publishes a list of recipients in the newspapers, listing those honored individuals, and then awards them all at the New Year's royal banquet.

In the first half of the year, Li Wei was listed among those honored for solving several serious crimes in the city and would be awarded the Medal of Honor—an award given to those who have made significant achievements in art, music, literature, politics, and other fields. Clearly, Li Wei received this medal because of the cases he solved.

The Distinguished Service Medal is a military medal awarded specifically to those who have distinguished themselves in combat against the enemy during military operations.

Of these three medals, the most prestigious is the Order of the Empire, as it signifies that the recipient will be knighted and become a true member of the "noble family." This means that starting next year, Livy will be known as "Sir Livy."

Generally speaking, simply suppressing a rebellion wouldn't be enough to award the Imperial Cross, but Levi guessed that this was probably a triple reward secretly added for his handling of the Imperial Bridge, the Baskerville family, and the Far North Star incident. After all, while these weren't entirely shady, his identity as a collaborator with MI7 was kept secret.

This is normal; I've never seen any country's leaders openly commend spies and secret agents.

Unless there's something wrong with your brain.

If Her Majesty the Queen were to publicly criticize Levi and MI7, Levi would immediately turn tail and run, the farther the better.

However, I doubt Her Majesty the Queen would be that mentally challenged.

"Congratulations, now you are a knight, Sir Levi."

Katie sat on the sofa with a grin, watching Levi—as expected, after Levi returned, this young lady had come to the clock tower to join in the fun again.

"We'll have to wait until after the medal ceremony; I still have a long way to go."

Li Wei has always politely declined the idea of ​​opening champagne at halftime.

"From now on, shall I address you as Sir?"

Eileen, standing nearby, asked curiously. As a girl from an ordinary family, this was the first time she had ever seen a nobleman.

"Yes, from now on we should address him as 'Sir,' though, well, it's pretty much the same thing... By the way."

As they were talking, Katie suddenly darted to Levi's side.

"Mr. Li Wei, have you decided where you want your fiefdom?"

"Was this my idea? Shouldn't it be the royal family who makes the choice for me?"

Faced with Katie's question, Levi rolled his eyes. Knights certainly had fiefdoms. However, this wasn't the Middle Ages anymore; it wasn't as simple as just giving you a castle or a small village. Basically, the royal family would carve out a piece of land from their estates for Levi—after all, that's how noble fiefdoms were done.

When a lord bestows a knightship, he is also granting land to those under his own jurisdiction.

After all, a retainer's retainer is not one's own retainer.

If the royal family were to grant Li Wei a fiefdom, they would certainly choose a place from among their own people, rather than using someone else's resources.

For example, the idea of ​​granting oneself a piece of land from the Baskerville family's Delicat region—that's absolutely impossible.

But Katie made it sound like she was shopping in a mall, where she could just pick whatever she wanted?
I wish such a good thing existed.

"Wouldn't it be better if you stayed in Chongqing? We could see each other more often in the future."

"I'd like to too, it's better than going to some remote mountain area."

Li Wei sighed. He truly had no idea what place the royal family would grant him. To be honest, Li Wei didn't want to leave Fog City. This was a world of rapid industrial development, and a political and economic center like Fog City was undoubtedly the place where intelligence and information flowed most freely, and where he could best enjoy the benefits of development. In Li Wei's country, why did everyone used to scramble to go to first-tier cities? Wasn't it because everything was so convenient there?
If you stay in a second- or third-tier city, you can't even buy a hot-off-the-press console game. You have to understand that back then there were no express delivery services, let alone free shipping zones. It was normal for a letter to take ten days or half a month to arrive.

If there's one thing Levi fears most, it's that the royal family will find a piece of land for him in Melisia... then he... won't even be able to cry anymore.

That's truly a poor and desolate place where wicked people thrive. Li Wei didn't come to this world to help the poor.

Unfortunately, this possibility isn't low, since Melisia is now completely back in the hands of the Empire. The rulers of the cities in the Melisian region have likely been either executed or imprisoned by the Empire, leaving a large number of positions that need manpower.

Sending me to Melesia would be practically the same as exile. Not to mention, given my current "reputation" in Melesia, the number of people wanting to kill me would be overwhelming. Sending me to Melesia would be like sending a lamb to the slaughter.

I hope Her Majesty the Queen won't be so heartless.

This is why Li Wei wasn't particularly excited about being granted a noble title.

Opening champagne at halftime and then turning around to go to Melicia, isn't that just being a clown?
"Then you should stay in Chongqing. I've found it less fun outside while you're gone."

I'm not here to play games with you, Miss.

Li Wei inwardly scoffed and silently rolled his eyes. However, Katie's words did provide some information.

"Nothing unusual has happened in Chongqing lately?"

"It's alright, at least there's nothing particularly serious."

"Yes, that's right. After the incident with the Holy Bishop, they probably won't have any more opportunities to attack Fog City for a while."

Her Majesty the Queen was also swift and decisive. Taking advantage of the Imperial Bridge incident, she almost wiped out the Holy Bishop's original stronghold in Fog City. After carrying out religious reforms, even if those Luddites or mystics wanted to do something, they would not have the environment to make a big splash in Fog City in the short term.

After chatting with Levi for a while, Katie said goodbye and left again, just like a gust of wind, but Levi was used to it.

"Mr. Li Wei, should we hire a few more servants?"

After seeing Katie off, Eileen looked at Levi with some unease and spoke.

"Ok?"

"Because, sir, if you were to become a nobleman, many people would surely come to visit you, and I alone would probably be unable to handle it all..."

Eileen's idea was reasonable. Right now, Levi was just an ordinary citizen, and having a maid to take care of him was enough. But things would be different once he became a nobleman. Not only would he have to entertain other nobles, but he would also receive many visitors—and Eileen alone would obviously be too busy to handle them all.

"Yes, that is indeed a problem, but let's talk about it after the medal ceremony. There's still half a year until the New Year's banquet, so there's no need to rush."

Li Wei had made up his mind: if the other party really found a place in Melisia to give him as a fief, he would simply refuse the medal.

What's wrong with staying in Chongqing and living a life of leisure? Why insist on going to that godforsaken place for poverty alleviation? I'm not an imperial civil servant. Why must I dedicate myself to the empire until my dying breath...?

"Ding dong."

Just as Li Wei and Eileen were chatting, the elevator bell suddenly rang again. Li Wei looked up and saw the elevator stop, and then the door opened, and a girl with golden curly hair and dressed very elegantly walked in.

"Hello, Mr. Li Wei, it's been a long time."

Olivia casually handed her coat to Eileen, who rushed to her side, and greeted Levi with a smile.

"Hello, Miss Olivia, I never expected you to come to the Fog City."

Li Wei also greeted Olivia and walked forward with some surprise.

"Could it be that something has happened to the Baskerville family again?"

"Although there are some minor problems, I can handle them all, and I also have Xiao Hei with me."

"Little black?"

Seemingly hearing someone calling him, Li Wei saw a puppy peek out from Olivia's arms and bark at him.

"…………………………It's been a long time since I've seen you either."

Looking at the adorable little puppy in front of him, Li Wei could only wave. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, who would know that this thing would be a ferocious three-headed hellhound?

"I read the newspaper; it seems you caused quite a scene in Melicia recently?"

"It's alright, it's just that we had to do it because of the circumstances."

Li Wei shrugged, while Olivia's eyes lit up.

"Would you be interested in going on a long trip with me?"

"Far away?"

"Yes, I plan to go to the Bisbaru region to attend the upcoming Steamcraft Exposition there, and while I'm at it, I'll see if there are any steam machines suitable for our Delicat. As you know, the harvest season is just around the corner, and there's no more convenient way to demonstrate the benefits of steam machinery to the people of Delicat!"

"Yes, that makes sense..."

Li Wei also knew the power of industrialized harvesting, which was far superior to human labor. It seemed that this young lady was truly dedicated to the development of the Delicat region.

However, Subaru's steam engine exhibition...

Li Wei had seen it in the newspaper; it was somewhat like a combination of the World Expo and the Canton Fair in this world. Hmm… I haven’t had much to do in Chongqing lately, so it wouldn’t be bad to go take a look around.

Katie will probably complain again that she can't find anyone.

"By the way, are we going to be taking a boat this time?"

When he returned to the Empire, Li Wei traveled on the army's airships; he definitely wouldn't take a boat again.

"of course not."

Olivia said with a grin.

"I plan to take the Orient Express there! How about it? Want to come along, Mr. Levi?"

(End of this chapter)