Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 138 Who is the murderer? It no longer matters.
Archmage Graham strictly ordered everyone present not to divulge a single word of their recent discovery. His face grim, he strode away from the noisy archives and returned alone to the main hall on the top floor of the mage tower, a space accessible only to members of the High Council.

In the hall, the other five archmages sat upright, the atmosphere so oppressive it was hard to breathe. Seeing Graham return alone, his expression showing no sign of relaxation, they already knew what was going on.

“Found it.” Graham walked to his seat and sat down, his voice hoarse.

He gently placed the copy of the file he had retrieved from the archives in the center of the round table.

"The scroll's number is AX-734, and it is indeed a fireball scroll made by our Highland Mage Guild."

He paused, looking over everyone present.

"The recipient is a high-ranking mentor, Eldridge."

Upon hearing his words, the other five archmages fell into a long silence.

The hall was eerily quiet, save for the monotonous "click-click" of a huge, ancient clock pendulum, each strike resonating in everyone's heart.

Now the situation is clear.

A spell scroll from the Highland Mage Order was obtained by High Instructor Eldridge through normal channels.

The last known appearance of this character was in Seville, in the Kingdom of Aragon.

But now, fragments of this scroll have appeared in Sarajevo and become involved in the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.

The connection between them is chilling.

"I'm going to do the final confirmation."

Graham broke the oppressive silence with his voice, which sounded somewhat hoarse.

"Let's see if we can get any useful information from that surviving mage."

The other five people had no objections and simply nodded silently.

Now that things have come to this, we can't let any clue slip by.

After leaving the council hall, Graham quickly arrived at the room where the surviving mage was housed.

The room was filled with a faint, calming fragrance.

After being comforted by a soothing monk from the school of delusion, the surviving highland monk has calmed down.

He sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly out the window, as if that terrible experience had drained all his energy.
Even after his emotions calmed down, the surviving highland mage still chose to rebuild the defensive school.

Even if the price is that he has to take a special potion, lose all his powers, and start all over again.
For a former spellcaster, this is nothing short of a rebirth, requiring immense courage.

Graham first gently reassured the other party and inquired about his recent situation.

After receiving an affirmative answer, the high priest slowly got to the point.

“My child, I have come today with a few questions for you about High Mentor Eldridge.”

Upon hearing the name, the surviving highland mage visibly trembled and tensed up.

But he was much better than when we first met; at least he didn't break down on the spot.

He told Graham that the hellish experience was something he dared not recall, even one involving his mentor, Eldridge.

He could only answer to the best of his ability.

Graham softened his voice to help the other person relax.

He said the questions he would be asked today wouldn't make him too nervous.

Then he asked the other party if they knew how to use the spell scrolls that Eldridge had received.

“Especially the Fireball scroll,” Graham added.

The surviving highland mage tried hard to recall, and after a long while, he spoke with some uncertainty.

“Master Eldridge himself has a Fireball ring.”

"So, apart from a few high-level spells that he used as trump cards, he distributed the rest of the spell scrolls he received from the mage corps to us."

This news gave Graham a much-needed boost.

"There are five scrolls for the Fireball spell. The three mage apprentices, myself, and another official mage each received one."

"And what happened to these scrolls later?" Graham pressed.

"They were all used up in the battle."

The surviving mage's voice trembled slightly, as if the images of those battles were flashing through his mind again.

"At least I used up my own. The situation was too chaotic at the time, and I had to use it."

Graham nodded and continued, "What do you do with the spell scrolls you've used up?"

“Under normal circumstances, we would carry out the retrieval in accordance with the mage group’s combat regulations.”

The surviving monks answered quickly, which is part of their regular training.

"All the spell scrolls I used have been recycled and are in my scroll bag."

"As for whether the spell scrolls of others have been retrieved, I have no idea."

A look of pain crossed his face.

"After all, the fighting at the time was too chaotic. The Kingdom Army, the National Army, the International Brigades, the Saxons—everyone was engaged in street fighting in the city, and we were scattered."

Graham pondered the mage's words, then asked:
"Besides what you just mentioned, were there any other forces that emerged in Seville at that time?"

The latter thought for a moment and then shook his head.

"Most civilians have run away. Nobody wants to stay in that hellish place. Maybe the church will take some people in, but who knows?"

"Furthermore, Lord Eldridge then directly attacked the enemy observation post in the church bell tower. Under such circumstances, those clergy members probably had already fled."

Graham asked a few more questions, which the Highland mage answered truthfully.

After finishing the questioning, Graham did not linger.

After comforting the survivor once again, he returned to the council hall and shared what he had just learned with the other five archmages.

After hearing his account, the hall fell silent once again.

But this time, a barely suppressed rage was brewing within the silence.

This was not an accident.
It's a conspiracy!
Someone is deliberately smearing the Holy Britannian Empire!

This was the thought that popped into the minds of all the archmages at the same time.

It is now highly likely that someone obtained the spell scrolls used by Eldridge's squad on the battlefield in Seville.

Then, during the assassination attempt against Archduke Ferdinand, this scroll fragment was deliberately left behind, creating this shocking frame-up.

"My lord, have the people we sent to Saxony to gather intelligence obtained any information?"

Graham looked up at the chief archmage on the main seat.

The chief archmage opened his eyes and slowly spoke.

“MI6 had been exchanging information with us before, and they did indeed find a Saxon soldier who performed exceptionally well in the Battle of Seville and in a series of battles in the Kingdom of Aragon afterward.”

“But aside from some basic information, all we know is his name is Friedrich Morin; we've never been able to get close to him.” Graham frowned. “Why?”

The chief archmage hesitated for a moment before explaining, "This person has been staying at the Saxon War Academy and a base in Dresden for a long time."

"Security in both places is extremely tight, and our people simply cannot find any suitable opportunity to make contact."

At this point, the chief archmage also sighed.

"Moreover, with such a major incident in Sarajevo, all the blame is being directed at us. At this critical juncture, it is even less convenient for us to make any big moves within Saxony."

Graham understood that the Archmage was telling the truth.

At this critical juncture, any extreme action could be interpreted by outsiders as a guilty conscience, which would only confirm the accusations made by Austria-Hungary.

All they can do now is wait and report to Her Majesty the Queen.

Subsequently, Graham, on behalf of the council, reported all the findings of the investigation separately to Victoria.

In the study of Buckingham Palace, after listening to Graham's detailed account, the Eternal Queen did not show the expected anger on her face, but instead fell into deep thought.

She leaned back in her chair, her fingers tapping lightly on the armrest; the only sound in the room was the crackling of the firewood burning in the fireplace.

After a long while, she finally raised her head and looked at Graham.

"So, the council's conclusion is that the Saxons were responsible for all of this?"

Graham nodded solemnly.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Every detail matches perfectly."

"The Saxon army participated in the battle of Seville, and they were the most likely to obtain this used spell scroll and hand it over to the assassin's forces."

Queen Victoria did not speak immediately; her slender fingers tapped rhythmically on the smooth wooden tabletop.

She couldn't understand why her Saxon grandson would do such a thing.

She stood up, walked to the huge French windows, looked at the garden outside, and analyzed to Graham:

"Your deduction is indeed logically sound."

"The Saxons got the scroll from Seville, then had Archduke Ferdinand assassinated, and then pinned the blame on us. They were capable of doing all of this."

"Losing Archduke Ferdinand will indeed make Austria-Hungary more dependent on them during the crisis, thereby consolidating the alliance, which is in their interest."

The Queen turned around, her gaze falling on Graham again, but with a deeper look of doubt in her eyes.

"But the question is, why did they go to all this trouble to drag us Brittany into this? Why did they have to throw this mud at us?"

"Your Majesty, this."

Graham was momentarily speechless; as a highland mage, he had indeed never considered this question.

In his view, it was only natural for the Saxons, as the empire's archenemy, to do this.
“Graham, you need to understand.”

The Queen’s tone became serious, as if she were Graham’s elder.

"The biggest enemy of the Saxon Empire right now is the Gallo-Baltistan Republic to the west. This is evident from their efforts to avoid a direct war with us during their conflict with the Kingdom of Aragon."

"For them, if war really breaks out in the Balkans, what they most want to see is that our Holy Britannian Empire can remain on the sidelines as it has in the past."

"This way they can concentrate all their forces to deal with the Gauls, with whom they have a blood feud."

"But now, they are using such clumsy methods to try to drag us down and force us to stand on the opposite side of them."

"This is completely inconsistent with their national strategy, and is even contradictory!"

The Queen's analysis was like a bucket of cold water, instantly sobering Graham up.

He suddenly realized that he and the other archmages in the council had fallen into a cognitive trap.

They only saw that the Saxons had the 'ability' to commit the crime, but ignored that they had no 'motive' to do so.

If the Saxons were indeed responsible for this, they would have essentially created two powerful enemies for themselves—the Gallo-Latin Republic to the west and the Holy Britannian Empire further away.

Unless Emperor Albert II of Saxony and his Junker nobles were all insane, they would never do something so foolish as to dig their own graves.

“Your Majesty, do you mean…” A fine layer of cold sweat broke out on Graham’s forehead.

"It's pointless to talk about this now."

Queen Victoria waved her hand, interrupting him.

Now is not the time to pursue logic, but the time to deal with the crisis.

Soon, Prime Minister Asquith and Foreign Secretary Gray hurried into the study.

"His Majesty."

Queen Victoria didn't waste any words and simply summarized the investigation results that Archmage Graham had just reported.

When they heard that the fireball scroll had actually been used on the battlefield in Seville.

The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary both wore the same shocked expressions as Graham had shown earlier.

"Sir Grey."

The Queen turned her gaze to the Foreign Secretary.

"I don't care what methods you use, immediately make this investigation result public and let all of Europe know that our Holy Britannian Empire has been shamelessly framed and framed!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Edward Gray straightened his back and answered loudly.

He finally has the chance to retaliate tenfold for the unwarranted accusations he's received these past few days.
"We need to tell everyone that the spell scroll did indeed come from our Highland Mage Corps."

"But it was used up months ago in the just war in which we assisted the legitimate government of the Kingdom of Aragon in reclaiming lost territory!"

"Therefore, any accusation that Brittany was involved in the assassination is a serious error and a shameless frame-up!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Minister Gray immediately accepted the order.

Soon, the official announcement from the Holy Britannian Empire was made public as quickly as possible through major newspapers, radio stations, and embassies abroad.

This announcement is like dropping another bombshell on the already turbulent political scene in Europe.

Immediately, all sorts of speculations and conspiracy theories arose.

Some believe the Britannians' version of events, thinking they were framed.

But many others, especially those in the Allied camp, believe this is just Bretons' excuse after being exposed.

In a subsequent public appearance, facing a barrage of questions from reporters, Foreign Secretary Edward Gray left only one intriguing remark.

"We don't care who wants to start a war; our Holy Britannian Empire has never been afraid of war."

"We just want to know, who exactly is trying to shift the blame?"

(End of this chapter)