Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 139 You Cannot Learn the [Silence Technique]

When Morin saw the news through the Dresden Zeitung, he had just returned to Falkenstein Estate, a rare occasion, and was enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet on the sofa in his study.

The newspaper's front page featured a strikingly large headline, displaying the latest official statement from the Holy Britannian Empire.

When he saw the line "The spell scroll is confirmed to be from the Highland Mage Order, but it was already used in the Battle of Seville," he was completely stunned.

Seville?

The name of the place instantly reminded him of that brutal street battle, and he almost dropped the newspaper in his hand.

After all that, the source of this mudslinging against Brittany was actually itself?
His first reaction was almost identical to that of the group of archmages from the Brittany Highlands Mage Order.

Could it be that someone from Saxony secretly picked up the used scroll on the battlefield in Seville and then planned this earth-shattering assassination?

The moment the thought crossed Maureen's mind, a chill ran down her spine.

If that's the case, then wouldn't I have unknowingly become a pawn in this huge conspiracy?
But the thought only lingered in his mind for a moment before he rejected it.

Because it doesn't make sense.

The Saxon Empire had absolutely no need to drag the powerful Britannia into this at this time.

Maureen leaned back on the soft sofa, looked up at the magnificent crystal chandelier on the ceiling, and fell into deep thought.

Did Emperor Albert II of Saxony really lose his mind and decide to wage war against two top powers, Gaul and Brittany, at the same time?
Kemorin believed that the high command of the Saxon Empire was not the kind of hot-headed warmongers.

Judging from Crown Prince Georg's attitude toward the training assault battalion and his clear understanding of future warfare, he was definitely a monarch with a long-term strategic vision.

At least for now, the crown prince seems to be doing well and has a certain long-term strategic vision.

Unless the crown prince is not his biological son?
Morin shook his head violently, trying to shake off this extremely abstract idea that had popped up out of nowhere.

He forced himself to continue thinking about the predicament he was facing.

If it wasn't the Saxons, then who could it be?

The intriguing remark made in public by Brittany's Foreign Minister, Edward Gray, in the newspaper resurfaced in his mind.

"Who exactly is trying to shift the blame?"

Yes, who exactly went to such lengths and set up such a grand scheme?

Why drag the Brittany into this quagmire?
Morin knew very well that Archduke Ferdinand's death had completely thrown the Balkans, this powder keg, out of control.

It was only a matter of time before Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

If Austria-Hungary were to take action, its ally, the Saxon Empire, would inevitably be drawn into the conflict.

The French Republic will not remain indifferent to this either.
The Brittany wouldn't stand idly by and watch the Saxons grow in power in Europe; they would most likely choose to intervene.

A war that will sweep across the entire continent of Europe is already imminent and inevitable.

But he still wanted to find out who was behind this assassination attempt.

He didn't want to be pushed into that meat grinder battlefield, which was more terrifying than hell, without even realizing it.

The most important question is, who would benefit most from starting this world war that would affect all the major powers?

The names of various countries kept appearing in Morin's mind.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire? They were the victims. Although the hawks wanted war, there was no need to resort to assassinating their own crown prince.
The Kingdom of Serbia? They have the motive, but not the power to organize an assassination using mages.

The Gallo-British Republic? They want to reclaim their lost territories, but directly provoking a world war is too risky.

The Britannians? They have even less reason to do so; maintaining the status quo is in their best interest.

The names of countries flashed by, only to be eliminated one by one.

Until, the name 'Lucia' suddenly appeared in his mind.

Morin frowned.

According to information previously obtained from Andrei of the International Brigades, the Russian Empire is currently engaged in a massive civil war.

The remnants of the old empire, led by former Imperial Navy Admiral Kolchak, occupy large swathes of Siberia.

Meanwhile, other smaller factions are finding it increasingly difficult to survive under the expansion of the former.

Most importantly, the Holy Britannian Empire has publicly expressed its support for Kolchak's White Army government and has provided substantial military and economic aid.

Then he realized that the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

That force was composed of left-wing volunteers from all over the world, including a large number of Eastern Europeans and Russians.

They were willing to serve as support troops in the civil war of the Kingdom of Aragon in order to prevent the imperialist powers from interfering in the civil war in Lucia.

Especially given that the Britannians have made it clear that they support their enemy, Kolchak.

For them, once a full-scale war breaks out in Europe, all the imperialist powers will be drawn into it and unable to help themselves.

By then, who will have the energy and time to care about Kolchak, who is far away in Siberia?
This is a perfect example of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao"!
Moreover, and most importantly, the International Brigades did indeed participate in the urban warfare in Seville!

They had every opportunity to obtain the fragment of the fireball scroll unnoticed amidst the chaos of the battlefield!
At this moment, all the clues were perfectly connected!
Morin felt the hairs on his body stand on end.

He felt as if he was about to grasp the answer hidden behind the fog.

With a dead grand duke and a burned scroll, he successfully pried open the war machine of the entire European continent.
Just as Maureen was immersed in the shock of being so close to the truth, the study door was gently pushed open.

Cecilia walked in carrying a steaming cup of black tea.

Seeing Morin's dejected appearance, she couldn't help but sit down next to him and gently flick his forehead with her slender finger.

"Fritz, what are you thinking about? Your face is pale, you're so engrossed in something."

The jolt brought Morin back to his senses, and he realized that he had been so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed when Cecilia had entered.

He smiled and waved the newspaper in his hand.

"It's nothing, Sister Cecilia. I was just thinking about the assassination in Sarajevo. I have a feeling that there's more to it than meets the eye."

"Oh?"

Cecilia handed him the black tea, a hint of interest on her face.

"That's exactly what I came to talk to you about."

"You came here for this too?" Morin took the warm black tea and looked at Cecilia with some surprise.

"Of course, didn't you ask me before to use United Industries' network in the Balkans to help you gather some intelligence there?"

"I originally thought it was just some routine business information, nothing special. But I didn't expect that after Archduke Ferdinand's assassination, my people actually got some very interesting new information."

"New message?" Maureen's eyes lit up instantly. "What is it?"

"According to my people, from some old friends within the Austro-Hungarian government who still have influence..."

Cecilia lowered her voice, adding a touch of mystery.

"During the assassination, all the surviving guards, including some civilians who were close to the explosion, mentioned a very strange detail when they were questioned afterwards." "In the seconds before the explosion, they all felt as if they had gone deaf, and suddenly they couldn't hear anything."

"Moreover, during that period, they found themselves unable to speak at all, as if someone had choked them, and they couldn't utter a single word."

As Cecilia spoke these words, a new message popped up in the "Intelligence" tab of Morin's cheat system.

During the assassination attempt, the assassin used the [Silence] spell to control and suppress the enemy.

[Silence: A 2nd-level Illusion School Spell]

[You designate a point within the casting range. A spherical area with a radius of 20 feet centered on that point will be unable to produce any sound during the spell's duration, and external sounds will be unable to enter this area. Any creature completely within this area will become deaf, and spells requiring verbal components cannot be cast within this area.]

After quickly scanning through this information, Morin couldn't help but sigh inwardly:

This is simply an amazing skill for stealth, assassination, and crowd control.

These assassins were far too well-prepared.
Morin silently recited the name of the spell in his heart, a strong desire welling up inside him.

This spell, capable of creating an absolutely quiet zone at crucial moments, has immeasurable value, whether for infiltration and surprise attacks on the battlefield or for carrying out certain special missions.
"Fritz? Fritz?"

Cecilia saw that Morin was spacing out again, so she couldn't help but wave her hand in front of his eyes.

"Oh, sister, I'm fine."

Morin snapped out of her daze and concealed her shock.

He is now increasingly certain that there is a well-organized and powerful force behind this assassination attempt.

This has far exceeded the capabilities of ordinary nationalist organizations.

"It seems the situation is more complicated than we thought."

Cecilia looked at Morin's solemn expression and sighed softly.

"Vienna is going crazy. I reckon they'll soon issue an ultimatum to Serbia: war is probably really coming."

“Yes, what’s meant to happen will happen.” Morin nodded, his eyes becoming incredibly deep.

The two talked for a while about the current situation, but both felt that the future was uncertain and neither could see where it would lead.

"Okay, let's not talk about these troubling things anymore."

Cecilia stood up, stretched, and gave a slightly tired smile.

"I've been so busy these past few days and haven't slept well. I need to go back to my room and catch up on some sleep. You should get some rest too, it's a rare holiday."

After saying that, she turned and left the study.

Once again, only Maureen remained in the empty study.

Morin eagerly opened the [Spells] page on his system panel.

He wanted to see if he could learn this second-level spell, which could be described as a divine skill for tactical control.

However, as he eagerly flipped through the spell list, the expression on his face slowly froze.

No.

He looked at it carefully several times, checking all the spells he could currently access, but he didn't see the spell "Silence" among them.

"How could this be?"

"Am I not worthy to learn the [Silence Technique]?"

Morin was filled with doubt and confusion.

Meanwhile, in London, at the Highland Mage Tower.

"Silence spell?"

When the chief archmage of the Highland Mage Council learned of this from Graham, his brow furrowed deeply.

According to the latest news from MI6 personnel, relayed from Sarajevo and Vienna to London, there were indeed many survivors on the day of the assassination who described scenes exactly the same as when they were suppressed by the [Silence] spell.

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Graham's expression was very serious. "Multiple intelligence reports from MI6 have cross-verified this. During the operation, the assassin used the [Silence] spell to disrupt the scene and suppress the Grand Duke's two Royal Spell Guards."

"That makes sense."

Another high mage spoke up:

"Those two Royal Spell Guards of Austria-Hungary, although not particularly strong, were experienced guards. If their spellcasting hadn't been interrupted by the Silence spell, they would have at least had a chance to activate the Shield spell or other protective spells, giving the Grand Duke a chance to survive."

These are not the key issues.

The chief archmage, referred to as the 'Seat', suddenly spoke:

"The key point is that the [Silence] spell is not a spell that we spellcasters can learn."

Upon hearing this, all the high mages present fell silent.

They certainly knew how special and rare the Silence spell was.

In this world, besides the ancient wandering knights and bards who have long since disappeared into the annals of history, there is only one other kind of person who can use the [Silence Spell].

Priest
Those clergy who serve the gods and draw power from them!
The six archmages fell into a long silence, but the same absurd and terrifying conjecture was revealed in their eyes as they looked at each other.

Could it be that the Vatican orchestrated all of this?
But why would they do that?
What benefit would they gain from assassinating the crown prince of a Catholic country?
The entire council hall was once again enveloped in an eerie silence.

Vatican City

The chief archmage murmured the name repeatedly, his expression incredibly complex.

He had witnessed countless storms and conspiracies, but what happened today still far exceeded his imagination.

"This is impossible!"

A hot-tempered archmage of the Evocation school tapped the armrest and continued:
"Why would the Papacy do this? Archduke Ferdinand is a devout Catholic, and Austria-Hungary is one of the Papacy's staunchest allies in Europe! What reason would they have to assassinate the crown prince of their ally?"

"Yes, that makes absolutely no sense."

Another high priest echoed:

"Moreover, by doing this, they are essentially pushing the entire Catholic world into the abyss of war. What good does this do for their spread of faith?"

"But the fact is, the [Silence Spell] has appeared."

Graham's voice, however, had become calmer at this moment.

"Besides a priest, I can't think of anyone else who could perform such divine magic."

"Could it be that those bards who disappeared hundreds of years ago suddenly crawled out of their graves, carrying their ideals, and went to Sarajevo to carry out assassinations?"

(End of this chapter)