Ascension from Dual Professions

Chapter 210: Chapter 205: The Attention of "Steel Rose

The carriage rumbled over an official road dusted with a thin layer of snow. Its heavy wheels made a dull, rhythmic sound on the meticulously paved stone. Inside the spacious carriage, a fire burned warmly, a stark contrast to the piercing, cold wind outside the window—a world apart.

Belina Benest reclined on a soft couch draped with a thick bearskin.

At the moment, she wore only a simple set of charcoal-gray woolen clothes—soft in texture yet crisply tailored. Her thick gray hair was no longer tied back in a severe wolf’s tail but cascaded loosely over her shoulders like a waterfall. She had shed some of the iron-and-blood sharpness of the battlefield, replaced by a rare sense of ease. Only her falcon-like eyes remained as sharp as ever.

Her personal attendant, Nora, knelt before a low table to the side, carefully trimming the candlewick with a pair of silver scissors to make the flickering flame burn brighter and more steadily.

Several thick stacks of documents were piled on the low table, looking exceptionally heavy in the warm, yellow halo of the candlelight.

Belina picked up the topmost document. It was a joint letter from her maternal family and several powerful Counts from within her fiefdom. The wording was respectful yet held a sharp, hidden edge. The core message was simply to urge her to finalize her tour route and entourage list, with a "strong recommendation" to prioritize visiting the domains of the great, traditional noble families—those with long histories and significant voting power.

Her long, strong fingers pinched the edge of the letter, and the corner of her mouth lifted into a barely perceptible, cold curve.

"Heh. ’Solidify the base’?"

She murmured to herself, her voice strikingly clear in the warm carriage, tinged with undisguised mockery.

’They’re probably more concerned with how much they can expand their own influence by using my tour.’

She picked up a quill pen dipped in vermilion ink and, with bold, flowing strokes, wrote a note in the blank space of the letter.

"First stop of the tour: Gray Rock Castle."

That was the main base of her Gray Blade Knight Order, the core symbol of her Power.

As for those eager old foxes?

With a flick of her pen, she turned to another draft proposal for a "traveling advisory council," which had a lengthy list of names. She decisively struck out nearly two-thirds of them, keeping only a few trusted confidants with real military or political talent, and symbolically left two representatives from her maternal family.

Her annotation was concise and forceful.

"Streamline. Only talent and loyalty."

’Power must be held firmly in her own hands, not become a chessboard for various factions to play on.’

After dealing with her supporters’ "suggestions," she turned her gaze to another document prepared by a Scribe—a selection plan for the core escorts and propaganda personnel for the national speaking tour.

It listed detailed profiles for dozens of candidates, including their background, strength, past achievements, and even personality analyses.

Belina’s eyes scanned the names and evaluations one by one, as precise as a measuring stick.

Her fingertip paused for a moment on the name of a Knight Commander known for his bravery but with a somewhat reckless personality. Ultimately, it moved on, landing on the name of a young Scribe below, who was evaluated as "calm and clever, skilled at reading people, with outstanding writing ability." She lightly circled the name.

’Unlike the battlefield, propaganda is also extremely important for this domestic tour. She doesn’t need her retinue filled with brutes who only know how to shout about killing.’

After circling several names, she reached for another document—an urgent secret report delivered by her intelligence chief.

The dark parchment envelope was sealed with a dark red wax stamp, signifying urgent military intelligence.

Unfolding it, the title was stark: "Confirmation of the Worsening Situation in Heta County and the Deep Collusion Between Nerva Heta and the ’Blood Eye Association’."

The report’s contents were extremely detailed.

What was originally a rebellion at the village and town level had continued to expand, with Birch Town becoming the core of the resistance. Nerva had openly raised the flag of independence, and his rebels were in league with the faction known as the Blood Eye Association. Under the difficult consolidation efforts of Viscount Paris Manola, the Lord of Birch, the resistance forces were mounting localized counterattacks using a new type of Mechanical Body produced by something called the "Giant God Workshop," but the overall situation remained grim...

At the end of the report, a piece of the latest intelligence was noted in bold script:

"The Empire’s Prime Minister, Duke Victor Feldren, has officially informed the Resistance Alliance that an elite operations team from the Ministry of Internal Affairs is secretly en route to Birch Town. Their targets are the high-ranking rebel leaders and the head of the Blood Eye Association."

"The Ministry of Internal Affairs..."

Belina murmured the name, a sharp glint flashing in the depths of her ice-blue eyes.

’That old fox, Feldren, certainly moves quickly.’

’Sending these daggers in the dark is both a sign that the Empire’s central command is taking the rebellion seriously, and likely also the Prime Minister’s own aggressive move on the Heta County chessboard. It won’t be just the rebels’ footing that gets disrupted.’

Her gaze focused once more on the section of the report detailing the collusion between the Blood Eye Association and Nerva.

This organization, entrenched in the shadows, had repeatedly created disasters on the Empire’s frontiers with its brutality and infiltration capabilities.

Now it was so deeply entangled with the descendant of a former Sword Duke, acting as his pawn to splinter the Empire. The level of threat it posed had undergone a fundamental change.

"Nora."

Belina suddenly spoke. Her voice was not loud, yet it carried an undeniable penetrating power that instantly shattered the silence of the carriage, which had been filled only with the crackling of the fire and the rustle of papers.

The attendant, who was organizing the letters, immediately stopped what she was doing and bowed her head respectfully.

"Your Highness?"

Belina pushed the secret report about Heta County forward, her long, strong fingertip tapping on the three words "Blood Eye Association."

"This ’Blood Eye Association’—do we have any more in-depth intelligence on them in our current files? Specifically, their recent movements, key figures, and... the precise details of their collusion with that traitor from the Heta family?"

Nora immediately set down the silver scissors and turned toward Belina. Maintaining her proper kneeling posture with her head slightly bowed, she spoke in a clear and deferential voice.

"Your Highness, forgive me. Regarding the files on the ’Blood Eye Association,’ both the Imperial Archives and Military Intelligence have records. However, because their activities were previously limited to remote counties and the threat level had not yet reached the Empire’s core heartland, they were not given the highest priority when intelligence was compiled and archived."

"The existing files focus on their history, organizational structure, and typical methods. There has been no in-depth tracking of their recent movements, key figures, or the specifics of their collusion with the Heta family traitor."

"If Your Highness requires it, the intelligence department can immediately raise the investigation priority and dispatch elite operatives for targeted infiltration and reconnaissance."

Belina’s gaze did not leave the secret report. She merely gave a slight nod, her jawline as hard and sharp as if carved from stone.

"Do it. Order the intelligence chief to elevate this matter to ’Cold Crow’ level. I want to know the organizational network of the Blood Eye Association and exactly where Nerva’s blood flows."

For an instant, the warm air inside the carriage seemed to freeze at her command.

Nora immediately complied.

"As you command, Your Highness. I will relay the order at once."

Belina’s long fingers released the heavy secret report, her fingertips then moving toward another stack of documents on the low table awaiting her review.

However, just as her gaze was about to move away from the parchment, the phrases "Giant God Workshop" and "new type of Mechanical Body" were like stones tossed into a frozen lake, stirring a faint ripple in her sharp, ice-blue eyes.

Her movements froze for a brief, almost imperceptible moment.

The only sounds in the carriage were the faint crackle of the fire and the dull rumble of the wheels on the stone road. Nora, still in her bowed posture, keenly sensed her mistress’s barely perceptible pause and held her breath, waiting.

Belina’s gaze fell back to those few lines in the report. Her fingertip unconsciously tapped the smooth surface of the low table, making a soft sound. DOK. The noise was exceptionally clear in the silence.

She pondered for less than a breath before completely halting the motion she had started to pick up the next document.

"Add this ’Giant God Workshop’ to the list as well."