School Transmigration: I, Chosen as the Saint by Dragons at the Start-Chapter 239 --The Reason for Betrayal

"General Reiss, who was fighting in the Snow Realm, has returned. The ministers are all rushing to the great hall as we speak!"

"Ah?" Armando expressed his surprise, "He’s back so soon? It seems the rebels in the Snow Realm were not much of a challenge."

Armando thought to himself: This is the perfect opportunity to see what schemes the national preceptor, Blois, has been up to.

With the assistance of his maid Mia, Armando dressed and headed towards the great hall.

Outside the palace gates stood a formidable and orderly army, their presence silent yet overwhelming.

The soldiers, clad in black armor and wielding spears, quietly awaited the arrival of one individual.

That person, none other than the king himself, appeared atop the palace walls, surveying the army below with a discerning eye.

In the center of the army, a figure on a tall, black horse made his way forward.

Dismounting, he knelt on the ground and loudly declared, "Your servant, Reiss, returns victorious, hereby returning the military seal for Your Majesty’s inspection."

"Well done, General Reiss. Your contributions in this battle are indispensable."

Following the king’s impassioned speech and the subsequent rewarding of merits, the army dispersed in an orderly fashion.

However, a small contingent remained.

Among them, a prison cart held a man of imposing stature and fierce gaze—Balder, the leader of the rebels.

Leading the procession, Reiss and his men escorted Balder to the front of the great hall.

Upon entering, Reiss made his way to the center of the great hall.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

"The rebel leader, Balder, has been captured alive, awaiting Your Majesty’s judgment."

The king repeatedly exclaimed, "Good, good, good."

"Someone, bring Balder up here quickly!"

The guards outside escorted Balder into the great hall.

Balder, with a furious glance at those present, bellowed, "Go on then, kill or flay me, just be quick about it."

A servant by the king’s side scolded, "How dare you behave so insolently in the presence of His Majesty?"

Balder laughed heartily, "Ha! I care not whether you’re some so-called king. Kill or flay me, it’s all the same."

"Enough, Balder," the king intervened.

"Why did you betray me, and moreover, cause the death of my own brother? Do you realize your actions warrant death a thousand times over?"

"A brother is as a father. The vendetta for a brother cannot go unavenged. I admit, I am no match for you. But the vengeance for my two unfortunate brothers has been exacted. What meaning is there for me to continue this pitiful existence? I beseech you, grant me a swift end."

The king, seething with anger, demanded, "I do not know why you would kill my brother. Speak of your reasons. If you remain silent, I will ensure you live in agony, wishing for death that will not come."

Balder knew well the king’s ruthless nature.

Without confession, he would indeed be condemned to a fate worse than death.

"Fine, I will speak, but only if you promise me a quick death."

"Speak then. I am all ears," the king responded.

Balder began, "It all happened four months ago. My two brothers were serving under your brother, Arthur..."

...

Four months ago, the national preceptor Blois made his way to Arthur’s fiefdom.

Upon seeing Blois, Arthur, with a sense of distaste, said, "I wonder what brings National Preceptor Blois to grace us with his presence!"

"Haha," Blois laughed, "Can’t I, Blois, visit Arthur’s domain without a reason? I’ve come to see how you are doing. Bring forth that treasure I collected from the Southern Flame Empire for Arthur to lay his eyes upon."

His attendants then unloaded a piece of jade from the carriage behind them.

Arthur had a lifelong passion for collecting jade and jadeite, a fact well-known among the nobility.

They knew that to curry favor with Arthur, one must go to great lengths to acquire for him all manner of fine jade and exquisite jade artifacts.

So, when Arthur saw Blois’s attendants bringing down a large piece of raw jade from that carriage, he was visibly excited.

"Excellent, excellent," Arthur exclaimed.

"This," Blois began, "was something I stumbled upon in the mines of the Southern Flame Empire. When the miners had dug down to about 20 meters deep, they found a small section of the eastern pit face showing through some smooth, hard rock."

"Because the rock surface was covered in a layer of talc, it was initially uncertain whether it was jade. They drilled a hole and used a small charge, which revealed that it was indeed a massive piece of jade."

"The workers, overjoyed, continued to dig, and the hard rock exposed grew larger and larger until it was discovered that the eastern pit face was connected in one large piece, all smooth jade stone walls."

"That night, a torrential rainstorm washed the giant piece of jade down to the bottom of the quarry in an irregular shape, with the top somewhat resembling a roof ridge. It displayed deep green, green, light green, black, yellow, red, and other colors, without impurities, entirely free of fractures or through-lines."

"Due to its enormous size, people called it the Imperial Jade. It became a candidate for the largest jade stone in the Eastern Land."

After the Imperial Jade was excavated, a story emerged of a miner who, in secret, attempted to blast a small piece off the Imperial Jade to make a trinket.

Not only did he fail to break any jade off, but he also met with a dire fate—losing his head for his audacity.

Since then, no one dared to lay a finger on the Imperial Jade.

"Ha-ha-ha, my brother, how did you manage to bring such a massive piece of Imperial Jade before me, especially from the Southern Flame Empire, thousands of miles away? It seems, Brother Blois, you’ve gone through quite some trouble," Arthur remarked with a laugh.

"Not at all, not at all," Blois replied.

"The whole world knows of our Arthur’s love for jade, to the point of obsession. How could I not bring such a beautiful jade to you upon finding it? To leave it elsewhere would be a waste of heaven’s gifts."

"Ha-ha, Brother Blois, your words hold truth. Only I am worthy of this Imperial Jade. Servants, prepare a feast to welcome and cleanse the dust off our national preceptor. Brother Blois, we shall not return tonight until we are thoroughly intoxicated. Ha-ha-ha!"

"Then, I shall humbly comply and enjoy a hearty drink with you, Arthur," Blois responded. At this moment, Arthur’s view of Blois shifted from aversion to admiration, truly embodying the saying, "No one turns away a visitor who brings gifts."

Arthur and National Preceptor Blois proceeded to the dining table.

"Come, Brother Blois, try the dishes prepared by my kitchen."

Just as Blois was about to taste the food, a cry came from outside: "Disaster, disaster!"

Arthur angrily demanded, "Who dares to create such a commotion? Come here at once!"

"My lord, the Imperial Jade—it’s gone."

"What? How can such a large piece of Imperial Jade just disappear? Lead me to it at once."

Arthur, along with National Preceptor Blois and others, hastened to the location where the Imperial Jade was kept.

Arthur shouted, "Someone, come here!"

"Present, my lord!"

"Who was in charge of guarding the Imperial Jade?"

"General Roys, my lord."

"Bring him to me!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Soon, Roys, reeking of alcohol, was brought forward by two towering warriors clad in black armor.

"Get him sober."

A bucket of cold water was promptly thrown over Roys, who spluttered, "Who dares interrupt my drinking? Just you wait, I’ll flay your skin off!"

Arthur furiously demanded, "Whose skin are you planning to flay?"

Roys, still groggy from the alcohol and the sudden dousing, recognized the voice but couldn’t immediately sober up.

At that moment, Arthur’s trusted confidant, Soro, interjected, "It’s Arthur asking you, whose skin are you planning to flay?"

Upon realizing it was Arthur, Roys instantly sobered up, noticing the crowd around him, with Arthur standing prominently among them.

"I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare," he stammered.

Arthur, still harboring a sliver of hope, asked, "You were tasked with guarding the Imperial Jade. Where has my Imperial Jade gone? Did you hide it? Bring it forth, and I shall spare you today."

Though Roys had sobered up, he was still clueless about the situation and blurted out, "Even if I had the courage of bears and leopards, I wouldn’t dare hide anything of yours, Arthur!"

"You didn’t hide it? Truly didn’t?"

"I wouldn’t dare, my lord!"

Arthur bellowed, "Take him away, flay his skin!"

To his dying breath, Roys couldn’t comprehend how he lost his life over something he hadn’t hidden.

Far off, Roys’s agonizing screams could be heard, a vivid testament to the cruelty of flaying a man alive.

Such was the brutal law of survival on this continent.

The king, seated upon his throne, listened intently to Balder’s narrative within the grand hall.

Interrupting, he questioned, "So you’re saying all of this was because of the rare treasure, the Imperial Jade?"

Balder responded, "You could say that."

"And how did you come to know all of this?"

"It was my brother Mael who risked his life to sneak away from Arthur’s control to inform me."

"That’s not true. You’re lying," the king accused angrily.

"The place you were stationed is so far from my brother’s domain. How could your brother possibly run all that way to you?"

"And inform you of everything that happened, and you so quickly raised an army in rebellion? Isn’t it more likely that this was a premeditated plan by you and your brothers? Speak the truth."

"I don’t know how it all happened so coincidentally. I had just been assigned by Marshal Norton to that area for troop drills. It had been years since I last saw my brothers. When my older and middle brothers found out I was nearby conducting drills, they came to see me. The three of us reunited, so we ended up drinking a bit more that evening. Just as we were enjoying ourselves, my eldest brother was summoned by Arthur to the Marquis’s residence."