"The man who summoned us claimed to be Hawthorne, and it was Owen and Juli......o who went into the water with me," said Marsim, who tried his best to cooperate with the interrogation, trying to tell everything he knew.

A day earlier, when he had been captured, Malsim had considered himself a tough and tenacious high roller, a tough guy who would keep his mouth shut if he was captured. The torturer standing next to the inquisitor had crushed all these romantic heroic fantasies, and Marchim didn't even have the courage to look at the torturer now.

Seeing that the interrogation went very smoothly, the interrogator leaned lightly against the wall, feeling the ease after completing the work. He didn't like torture work, and he did this cruel job not only for a good salary, but also because of his insistence on justice. Tens of thousands of brothers and hundreds of thousands of family members of the Roman legion relied on food brought in by grain ships to feed their stomachs, and there was no reason why everyone was starving.

The inquisitors who received the confessions did not feel relaxed, and experience told them that confessions are not the same as truth, and that many of the thugs who were caught would make up all kinds of lies in order to get rid of the torture temporarily. Proving the authenticity of a confession requires more hard work. An incredibly disgusting irritability to work

Things turned out to take a turn for the worse, and the representative of the province of Europa in Constantinople came to the door to ask for the suspect, "Please return Miss Sheila to us, we are willing to come forward to protect her." ”

The frowning inquisitors were full of suspicion that Sheila had been taken this morning, and that the inquisitors had not taken the liberty of killing the good people and found a copy of "Travels in the Orient" on the beach where the shipwreckers had gone into the water, with Sheila's signature on it. When it became clear that the woman was an employee of the representative office of the province of Europa in Constantinople, the interrogators immediately made the matter a priority.

"Your Excellency, Sheila is likely to collude with the bandits." The inquisitor explained.

"We are willing to vouch for Sheila. The personnel of the representative office are certainly not involved in this matter. The representative of the province of Europa replied categorically.

This change made the inquisitor very unhappy, and he asked tentatively, "Your Excellency, don't you worry about making a mistake?" ”

"Certainly not mistaken. Do you think we're going to hire people at will? The delegate spoke in the affirmative.

Even though he knew that the representative of the province of Europa was a person he could not be provoked, the inquisitor refused to release him immediately. He sent someone to inform the Secretary of the Interior who was working in his hospital bed after he was out of danger. Instructions from the Secretary of State for Home Affairs are desired.

Hearing this, the minister on the hospital bed asked the person who came to report the matter to tell him about it again. The officials who came to report quickly recounted the results of the interrogation so far. According to the custom of the Eastern Romans, it is better to kill the wrong than to let go at such a time. Officials exaggerated the conspiracy that Sheila might be involved in.

Most of the thieves who tried to scuttle the grain ships were mixed on the water, knowing that the grain ships in the province of Europa were rarely maintained. For more than 1,000 years of seafaring knowledge in the Mediterranean, the formidable enemy known as the 'ship maggot' has been emphasized. It was a maggot that burrowed into the wooden planks of a ship's hull and grew up to the size of a thumb and the length of a forearm. When there are enough maggots in the hull, the maggots are large enough to cause irreparable damage to the badly damaged hull planks inside, and the ship sinks.

The most effective way to deal with these maggots is to refurbish them regularly and replace the planks. As a result, it takes half a year to maintain the vessel. The shipwreckers believed that the interior of the Great Song hull, which was rarely maintained, must have been severely damaged and could have been easily chiseled.

The gang carried the steel chisel and dived underwater to wreak havoc, and the steel chisel that could easily cut through the marble turned into waste in front of the incomparably strong hull. When I touched it carefully, I found that the bottom of the boat, which had many barnacles absorbed, turned out to be a solid iron plate. Unwillingly, these people circled around the ships of the Great Song Dynasty, constantly trying to find an entry point. The results of the attempt were extremely disappointing, whether it was the bow, hull, or stern, the part below the waterline of the Great Song ship was covered with iron plates.

Before the ship-wreckers chose to give up, the sound they made from tapping on the ship's board earlier attracted the attention of the people left behind in the Great Song Dynasty. They immediately called the police. The army, alerted, quickly dispatched and captured a part of the thugs. The thugs confessed that they were all taking money to do things, and that the person who summoned them did not reveal their identity, and that the convener and his comrades who had let loose on the shore had fled. The interrogator still doesn't know who is behind it.

After listening to the report, the minister's subordinates hesitated and said, "Your Excellency, do you think it will ...... Is it possible that the guards are stealing themselves? ”

These words made the faces of the people around them change greatly, and their anxious eyes fell on the minister. The minister thought for a while before replying: "If their purpose is to intimidate us, why not just say that the fleet cannot arrive on time due to the wind and waves." ”

Hearing this possibility, everyone was shocked. The population of Constantinople, which had been a few tens of thousands a decade ago, is now more than 300,000. Ten years ago, there was a severe shortage of food supplies, and now at least there has not been a problem of untimely food distribution. The minister's statement is the most effective way to justify the interruption of the food supply.

Seeing the panicked expressions of his subordinates, the minister felt that his assumptions were too impactful, and hurriedly said, "Don't doubt without evidence, do you hear it?" ”

"But ......" subordinates couldn't break free from their fear. They all know what it's like to be hungry for a long time, and when they think about it, they naturally fall into a panic.

Seeing his subordinates in a panic, the minister pointed at the self-proclaimed clever culprit and shouted, "Drag him out and whip him ten lashes!" ”

The guard immediately stepped forward and dragged the man out, and when the whipping and cries of pain sounded, the minister said solemnly to the others: "Can any of you prove this suspicion? ”

No one can prove it, and no one dares to speak. The minister continued to the gang with hatred: "Who are the people who incite suspicion and sabotage the Quadripartite Alliance? Definitely the bad guys. This kind of talk sounds reasonable, but it's all bastard. Which of you has the means to directly contact the Yuan Kingdom and buy so much grain at the current grain price. I tell you, if any of you have this ability, I will immediately recommend him to His Majesty the Emperor. Which of you can do it, tell me! ”

The minister's gaze swept over his subordinates, and when he saw that no one dared to make a mistake, he shouted: "Tell the people of Europa Province that we still have some questions that have not been interrogated, and they can interrogate them with our inquisitors, and when the interrogation is over, they can take them away." ”

The subordinates took the order and left, and the minister sat on the bed hatefully and watched the back of the group of waste. The minister understands their feelings, and everyone will want to be in control of the situation, to dominate the situation. The minister was more interested in not being controlled by outside powers, and would be overjoyed if the Eastern Roman Empire was the dominant route across the seas. Because of this, the Minister knew that the province of Europa must not be allowed to feel such an atmosphere. The Eastern Roman Empire had begun to build its own merchant fleet, gradually gaining a share of the shipping from the provinces of Europa. Although the province of Europa did not refuse, it was not happy to watch. If the intention to sabotage cooperation is demonstrated, the province of Europa has countless means to make the Eastern Roman Empire miserable.

But there are a bunch of wastes in the court who have just eaten a full meal for a few days, and they start to think nonsense!

The minister didn't want to be angry with himself, and tried to turn his mind to business. It is certain that the province of Europa will not play this trick of chiseling its own ship. The woman named Sheila was the daughter of an ordinary nobleman, educated and poor like the Eastern Roman aristocracy. In the past, such daughters would have been married to the nobles or used as mistresses. However, the province of Europa of the Great Song Dynasty continued to increase its offices throughout Eastern Rome, recruiting many children of nobles like Sheila to work for them. Guaranteeing Sheila should be a statement that the Great Song Province of Europa is capable of protecting those who work for the province of Europa in the Eastern Roman Empire.

Having made such a judgment, the minister decided not to care about this kind of thing. Eastern Rome was now completely dependent on the support of the Quad Alliance, not only for freight, but also for borrowing. What he said before was from the bottom of his heart, anyone who undermines the Quadripartite Alliance and raises suspicions about the Quadripartite Alliance is a bad person. Whatever their motives, the result was to harm the Eastern Roman Empire.

It must have been the traitors of Eastern Rome who caused the ship-wrecker incident, and anyone who muddied the waters could not let go. Thinking of this, the minister viciously shouted outside: "Whip that guy ten more lashes!" ”

The representatives of the province of Europa, as the Minister of the Interior had expected, came forward to protect those who had defected. Let the Eastern Roman Empire do something to the mercenaries of the province of Europa, where will the face of the great Song Dynasty go? The big dog still has to depend on the owner, and the Eastern Roman Empire is not qualified to sit on an equal footing with the Great Song Dynasty.

Miss Sheila, whose face was disgraced, saw the representative of the province of Europa appear with the inquisitor, and her face was full of anticipation. The representative of Europa didn't speak, and he wondered how Sheila had become involved with the villains. The interrogator questioned what was already known.

Sheila can only say that on the day of the large-scale military dispatch a month ago, the "Travels in the East" that her father gave her was gone. As for why she appeared on the beach where the villains were, she had no clue at all.

According to Eastern Roman tradition, he should have been sentenced at this time. The interrogator didn't dare to order the punishment this time, so he could only continue to ask angrily. The result of the question made him very dissatisfied, and finally he couldn't help but shout: "You are so dishonest, aren't you afraid of suffering?" ”

Sheila was once again distracted, and she looked at the representative of the province of Europa with a pleading gaze, silently expecting to ask for help. The representative of the province of Europa sighed slightly, he had seen such a simple and crude question before, and he was once very much in favor of such a straightforward method. Now he understands why he failed in the interview. The interview questions are quite similar to what they are doing now.

"Sheila, why do you remember the day you lost the book?" The representative asked.

"A lot of soldiers passed by my house that day, and I remember it very clearly."

"Can you remember the last time you saw this book that day?"

"This ...... It was probably noon...... I ate and wanted to sleep for a while. I was afraid of oversleeping, so I went to the second floor to read a book. My father called me at the time, and it should have been a little more. ”

"When did you find out that the book was missing?"

"Evening. I wanted to read a book for a while and go to sleep, but I found that the book was missing. ”

Listening to the question, the interrogator looked impatient. Is this a collusion? Then he heard the representative of the province of Europa say, "Your Excellency, will you have time to go with me to Sheila's house?" ”

Things got to this point where the inquisitor felt that it didn't matter if he made an extra trip. It wasn't long before they arrived at Sheila's house, and asked Sheila to determine where the book was before it disappeared, and then looked around the room for a while, and then focused on the fireplace near the small desk. He brought a horse lantern to go in and take a look, and it didn't take long for the representative to come out and hand the horse lantern to the interrogator, "Please go and see it yourself." ”

The inquisitor was angry and poked into the fireplace with a lantern, and after looking at it for a while, he shouted, "Someone has crawled inside!" ”

No one likes to drill into the flue inside the fireplace, and when the light shines, it's very obvious that someone has crawled in it not so long ago. The inquisitor, who had a hand stained with black ash, came out and saw the handprint on the book cover. He had already understood that this mudra was a thief. The Inquisitor looked at Sheila with a more stern gaze, believing that Sheila was most likely colluding with the Assassins.

Seeing the interrogator's expression, the representative who did not pass the interview of the Ministry of Justice of the Great Song Dynasty sighed in his heart, he was like this back then. Find a suspect first, index all the lines you know to this suspect, and try to make an iron case. When criticized as 'lazy', the younger representatives were full of grievances and anger.

After so many years of training, he would never think like that again. Based on the information gathered so far, it is likely to be determined that the thief who let the wind on the shore is a member of the Assassin League, and must have escaped to the roof of Sheila's house in order to avoid being pursued, and burrowed into the chimney to escape. According to the time Sheila said, the thief left with his books before dark. In that case, there must have been people around who had seen him.

After summarizing the clues, the representative made his judgment. And the interrogator is asked to investigate the people around him. At this time, the interrogator was full of thoughts that the representative and Sheila had a problem, but readily agreed. He made a decision in his angry heart that he must chase down and expose the matter of protecting Sheila on behalf of him.

The inquisitor sprang into action that day. After only a day of investigation, the interrogator became so irritated that he wanted to beat and kill. Many people were asked, and the information they said was worthless. It's just that the spirit boiling in his heart is still there, and he decides to stick to it. After asking for another day, I still didn't ask for any valuable information. By the time he went to bed at night, the weary Inquisitor found himself just trying to leave behind the pointless net of investigation and secretly capture Sheila and hand it over to the Torturer. The torturer must have a way of priing Sheila's mouth open.

On the third day, the interrogator desperately tried to convince himself to continue the investigation, but his ass sat firmly in the office chair and did not move. Just as he decided to stay in the office for the day, someone from outside came to report, "Someone came to report." ”

"Oh. Let the man in. The inquisitor replied weakly. These days Constantinople has put up a bounty notice, and anyone who comes to report it can provide valuable information can be rewarded with thirty catties of rice. If accurate information can be given, a maximum of 150 catties of flour can be given. Many people came to report it, and the interrogators who handled the case were weak in their legs, but they found nothing.

It was a guy who came in with a thief's eyebrows, and the inquisitor wanted to arrest him and send him to the interrogator for torture. The man nodded and asked, "Your Excellency, can you give me the reward and take it secretly?" I'm afraid of being seen."

"Don't talk nonsense, say what you know first. If you can point out where the thief is, we certainly won't let you get out of luck! The inquisitor shouted angrily.

The thief-eyed guy nodded again and finally spoke. The inquisitor sat up straight unconsciously, and what the thief-eyed guy said was very familiar to him. On the day the Roman army besieged the Assassin League, someone escaped from the roof and hid in the chimney of a family with a balcony, and in the evening, the guy slipped out dirty and hid from the people.

Hearing this, the inquisitor could no longer hold back and shouted: "Where has that man been!" ”

But the thief-eyed guy didn't say anything, and asked with a pitiful expression: "Your Excellency, my reward ......?"

The inquisitor just wanted to grab the guy and give him a few mouthfuls, but before he stood up impulsively, he sat down. Call in the accountant and ask the accountant to hand over a square bill to this guy, which is enough to buy 150 catties of grain. Even though his eyes were full of greed in his pretending to be pitiful, he still looked at the inquisitor and said tentatively, "Your Excellency, what do you say about this money?" ”

"Take me to this person, the money is yours. But if you're lying to me, hehe! The inquisitor said with a sneer.

"Definitely! Certain! The rat-eyed guy nodded his head like a chicken.

In the evening, a sturdy young man with a simple and upright face and a beautiful beard appeared at the door of an inconspicuous inn, and he greeted the owner and walked into the inn. The inquisitor hiding in the shadows asked in a low voice, "Is that him?" ”

The thief-eyed guy nodded repeatedly, "That's him." ”

The inquisitor gestured, and the plainclothes began to surround him. The shopkeeper saw a group of ill-intentioned guys approaching him, and his face changed color in fright. The plainclothes showed the shopkeeper their badges and asked, "Which room does the man who just entered?" ”

He ...... He lives on the second floor, on the left. Someone came to him today. The shopkeeper was so frightened that he stammered.

The plainclothes walked lightly to the second floor, stepping up the tattered staircase, the planks creaking and creaking. As soon as these people reached the second floor, they heard someone outside shouting anxiously: "The thief has gone to the room!" ”

The plainclothes could no longer take cover, and rushed to the door of the house on the left and began to kick the door. As soon as the door was kicked open, two arrows were shot from inside, and the plainclothes man at the door screamed and retreated. A whirlwind rushed out of the house, and the two of them ran away. Although they were good at defeating a few people downstairs, they could not fight against the encirclement net that had been sown. The inquisitor leaps out of the shadows and knocks one of them down. The other was stunned, and was knocked down by another plainclothes person. The others rushed up and held the two of them down.

The interrogation began overnight, and in the middle of the night, the two men confessed. They were the Marquis of Sylkia's men, who had come to contact the Assassin League. The inquisitor couldn't help but be speechless, and in the evening to catch the thief, the guy with a simple face and a beautiful beard was unusually good, and when he saw that the situation was not good, he opened the window and went to the room and fled. It got dark so quickly that he let him run away.

"Who are that man's accomplices in the city?" The inquisitor asked viciously.

"He's from out of town. I haven't heard of any accomplices in the city. The Marquis of Hilkia's men replied.

"Dishonesty, isn't it! I still want to be beaten again, don't you? The inquisitor shouted angrily.

The two of them were so frightened by these words that they burst into tears, and the torture they had no courage to hide it. It's just that that's what they learned, and the two really don't know what other accomplices that the Assassin League guy has.

Just hearing the door, the interrogator sneered, "The torturer is here, he will clean you up." After speaking, he raised his head, immediately stood up like a spring, and said respectfully: "Your Excellency, Minister." ”

He was mistaken for an interrogator, and the Minister of the Interior did not care. Walking up to the inquisitor, the minister patted him on the shoulder and praised, "Well done." ”

The inquisitor blushed, feeling only that his hard work had been rewarded. The Minister of the Interior sat down, asked a few questions from the Marquis of Hilkia, and asked them to take them down to heal and rest. After the others left, the Minister of the Interior asked the inquisitor: "I heard that you think that the representatives of the province of Europa are colluding with the traitors?" ”

"I feel like he's plotting something." The interrogator hurriedly replied.

"If he has a conspiracy, why should he point you in the right direction?" The Home Secretary asked.

The inquisitor was silent. In the past few days, he occasionally felt that the representative of the province of Europa had pointed out the right direction, but he refused to admit it in his heart. Now that he has caught a big fish in this direction, he can no longer deny that the representative has indeed pointed out the right direction. It's just that there is an indescribable knot in my heart that can't be untied, which makes the interrogator feel like a fish in his throat.

At this moment, another person walked in from outside, his whole body covered in a robe, and his face was still covered, and the word 'suspicious' was literally realized from the paper. The minister pulled out a portrait and handed it to the interrogator, "This is not the one who fled." ”

Looking at the delicate sketch, the inquisitor nodded again and again, "It's this thief." ”

The minister took back the portrait and handed it to the mysterious man, who looked at it and replied: "He is the commissioner of Ankara in the alliance." ”

The interrogator was startled, and the innkeeper was in the interrogation room next to him, so frightened that he was about to pee his pants. Without going to the penalty, you already know everything and say everything. According to the boss, the escaped thief has an eastern accent and has never been in contact with a woman during his stay at the hotel. Unexpectedly, this guy was the leader of the assassins in Ankara.

Receiving a clear answer, the Home Secretary put away the portrait and stood up and instructed the interrogator, "Don't trouble Sheila, she has nothing to do with this." ”

"Minister, I think it's not that simple." The interrogator hurriedly emphasized.

The minister stared at the interrogator and said solemnly: "You care so much about Sheila, is it because of jealousy?" ”

The inquisitor only felt as if his heart had been hit by a sledgehammer, and his brain became confused and at the same time suddenly cleared. He did not like Sheila, the daughter of a nobleman who could live on two floors with a balcony and a fireplace, and who could work as an errand boy in the provincial representative office of Europa. He lived a leisurely and decent life every day, earning several times the salary of an interrogator. There's nothing more annoying than this kind of person!

Patting the inquisitor on the shoulder, he dropped the sentence "I am optimistic about you, you don't want to destroy your future", and the minister left the office with the mysterious man.