Cambridge.
After the attack incident, the situation across the entire county grew tense almost overnight. Suspicion between the investigators and local residents deepened, and the pace of the land inspections slowed dramatically.
"That greedy Viking king—I curse his soul."
"Why send so many soldiers to Cambridge? Does he mean to take everything we have?"
As a seasoned operative, Blackfish was permitted to act alone. Disguised as an ordinary civilian, he wandered about freely and frequently heard locals speaking ill of the king.
After blending in for some time without uncovering any leads related to the privately minted silver coins, he applied for additional funds. This time, he disguised himself as a peddler selling sundries, traveling from place to place to gather intelligence.
"Come and have a look—bay leaves from the Canary Islands! Perfect for seasoning stews, or to keep insects out of your wardrobe!"
"Dyed threads—red, yellow, blue, green! Stitch them onto your clothes—cheap and beautiful!"
With his assortment of small goods and his honest, simple demeanor, Blackfish managed to enter manors and villages alike. While selling his wares, he casually probed for information. After more than ten days of investigation, he keenly detected a crucial pattern:
The closer one got to East Anglia, the more frequently privately minted silver coins appeared. This strongly suggested that the coins did not originate in Cambridge County at all, but rather in East Anglia, to the northeast.
That very night, he sought out the inspector in charge of the case and requested that the scope of the investigation be expanded to include East Anglia.
(East Anglia was Edmund's domain, once one of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy kingdoms. More than a decade earlier, Edmund had surrendered to Ragnar and been granted the title of earl.)
The inspector hesitated.
"Great nobles aren't like barons and knights in the royal demesne. If this sparks a dispute, dukes and earls across the kingdom will all take notice."
After several minutes of hesitation, the inspector summoned two senior agents. Combining their intelligence, they confirmed that Blackfish's suspicion was well founded. Left with no better option, the inspector agreed to expand the investigation.
Time passed to late October.
Although the land inspections in Cambridge County had long since concluded, the local tension had not eased. An infantry regiment was dispersed across five of the larger towns and villages, ready at any moment to suppress unrest.
At the same time, agents of the intelligence service penetrated deep into East Anglia, searching for clues—inevitably drawing the attention of East Anglia's lord.
"Cambridge folk are spreading rumors—why is Vig coming after me?"
After receiving reports from various places, Edmund cursed loudly, his anger laced with fear.
By now, the great nobles had gradually learned of the intelligence service's existence—this group answered neither to the cabinet nor to local authorities, but only to the crown.
Such a large-scale operation could only mean one thing: Vig had set his sights on him.
Edmund summoned his five most trusted confidants and ordered them to uncover the true intentions of these agents as quickly as possible, so he could respond in time.
Two days later, a knight returned to Norwich to report.
"My lord, someone in Cambridge assassinated a land surveyor. The military found a batch of privately minted silver coins at the attacker's estate. The intelligence service took over the investigation and eventually traced the trail to East Anglia."
Edmund nodded in satisfaction, admitting inwardly that he had underestimated the man—who turned out to be more capable than expected. He opened a drawer, preparing to reward the knight, when a sudden doubt crossed his mind.
"Why do you know so many details?"
"Uh…" The knight scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"I noticed someone in a tavern asking questions everywhere, so I followed him when he left. He and two companions cornered me in an alley.
"We fought. I killed two of them and captured the wounded one, forced him to talk, and learned quite a bit. Unfortunately, his injuries were too severe—he died not long after."
Seeing the earl's face turn deathly pale, the knight added,
"Afterward, I found a cart and dumped the bodies in the wilderness. There were absolutely no witnesses. Please rest assured."
"You—you—" Edmund's voice trembled. He wanted nothing more than to strangle this brute who only knew how to fight.
After dismissing him, Edmund went to the window and stared out at the scenery beyond the castle walls, filled with regret.
"If only I'd sealed that silver away in a cellar and waited ten or even twenty years before spending it…"
"Paphis, your cursed money has ruined me."
Two years earlier, as the Frankish forces faltered, Paphis had fled with his nephew and several confidants to the northeast of Cambridge, carrying silver ingots embezzled over years from the mines, intending to escape.
By chance, Edmund discovered this. He gladly accepted the silver, then forced Paphis to reveal other hidden stashes and the names of accomplices planted in various places—including the superintendent of the Nottingham silver mine.
After the interrogation, Edmund killed Paphis and the others, causing the former court steward to vanish from the world entirely. Some believed the eunuch had fled with stolen wealth; others thought he had escaped to Normandy; still others suspected he remained somewhere in Britannia, waiting to spark a rebellion against Vig.
Later, Edmund fell into financial difficulty. With no alternatives, he melted down Paphis's hoarded silver ingots and silverware into coinage to cover expenses.
In truth, he had never hired assassins to kill the surveyor—the intelligence service had been wrong from the start.
Yet even if he was innocent of that particular crime, four charges could not be denied:
Hoarding Paphis's stolen wealthSheltering the fugitive mine superintendentPrivately minting silver coinageKilling agents of the intelligence service
Faced with such crimes, even the magnanimous Ragnar would not have granted easy forgiveness—let alone Vig of Tyneburg, renowned for his severity and meticulousness.
"If this blows up, that Viking barbarian will never spare me. I must make preparations early."
After long deliberation, Edmund wrote to Scunthorpe, north of Cambridge, inviting Count Buden to meet him.
Back then, when Edmund had sent men to search for Paphis's second hidden cache, Buden had exploited his geographical advantage to seize most of the treasure for himself. Now Edmund intended to drag him into the mess and share the pressure.
"Young fool, that money wasn't free. Don't think you can stay out of this."
Two days later, Count Buden, only sixteen years old, received the letter. Though it explained nothing, he instinctively sensed trouble.
"Damn that old bastard—what scheme is he plotting now?"
Buden brought a squad of knights, ordering them to wear cloaks and keep a low profile as they traveled to an abandoned village within Cambridge territory.
In a courtyard overgrown with wild roses and nettles, he met Edmund, whose face was etched with worry.
"Brother Buden, you finally came. Have your men disperse—I need to speak with you alone."
Buden dismissed the knights and sat impatiently on a stone step. Soon, he heard the bad news from Edmund's mouth: Vig had learned that the two earls had divided Paphis's treasure and was dispatching intelligence agents to investigate.
Buden's first instinct was to return the money—but of the thousand pounds' worth he had taken, only a small portion remained. Panic seized him.
"I'll… I'll find people to borrow money from."
"Calm down, Brother Buden. That money is no longer important."
Edmund forced a worried expression.
"I had someone inquire in Lundenwic. They say Vig's true intention isn't the money at all—he plans to frame us as Paphis's accomplices and strip both our families of their lands."
"T–Then what do we do?"
Buden had inherited his title only two years earlier and lacked experience. Easily frightened by Edmund's words, he lost all composure, clutching the older earl's arm in desperation, searching for a way out.
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