Chapter XVIII: Crimes of Officers

And I can also take advantage of this time to find out their intentions and conduct. Whether it is resistance to in-recruitment, or whether there is any inappropriate behavior on the part of the members of the mercenary group. ”

There really was no need for an immediate showdown with them, the Welsh garrison would stay outside the city for some time. As long as they are still there, there won't be much of a problem with the defense of Clear Water City.

The soldiers who Matthew had just recruited had not been trained and adapted for many years, and it was almost difficult for them to form an effective combat force on the battlefield. Except for a few experienced mercenaries, these people are not of much use for the time being. And the main purpose of Mei Fei's incorporation of those mercenary groups is to quickly fill the defense vacancies after the departure of those garrisons.

"Then deal with it according to the two of you, and tomorrow I will summon them as a lord. When the time comes, they will be handed over to the jurisdiction of Aman. Mayfield thought for a moment and said to Aman.

"Then I'll go tell them. Seeing that the lord had made a decision, Amor offered to meet with the mercenary group.

After paying the commission he had promised to Mephie, Tamu also left with Amar. After the two walked away, Mayfield just wanted to go out to see the situation of the recruits on Matthew's side, but before he could walk out the door, Annellin followed the knight captain Gray in with a solemn face.

As soon as he saw this lord, Anairin immediately said, "My lord, something unexpected happened. ”

Mei Fei was stunned, could it be that those officers were still holding on to their refusal to admit their guilt? Impossible, these things had already been decided and they could not overturn the case. Could it be with someone outside...

Thinking of this, Mei Fei pursed her eyebrows suspiciously: "Tell me about the interrogation process from the beginning, what happened?"

Annelin glanced at Knight Gray, as if waiting for him to speak. Gray nodded, and his tone was a little steady: "Since yesterday, Mr. Annelin has interrogated one by one according to the testimony you gave..."

Knowing that the garrison commander had abandoned them, the officers quickly confessed to all the crimes they had committed. ”

"As the incriminating evidence says, they have repeatedly extorted many caravans and mercenary groups in the name of their commanders, and have framed and arrested those who resisted them. The tax collector was also threatened by them, and was forced to tamper with many tax orders for them, and at the same time concealed a lot of green water city tax revenues and swallowed them all privately. ”

"According to the officers, they had hinted at something to the garrison commander more than once, but the commander said nothing about it. And every year those officers would divert a large sum of money and secretly give it to this lord in the form of various gifts or banquets. Therefore, my and Mr. Annelin's speculation is that His Excellency Wales must have known about these things for a long time, but he was also one of the beneficiaries, so he deliberately chose to avoid these things and pretended not to know about them. ”

Mayfei's face was calm, and he was not surprised. These things can be seen early on in the testimony of Wales. This is also the evidence he wants most to get his hands on, as long as the officers sign the confession. He could then justifiably use this as evidence to keep those officers firmly in his hands, and to hold Wales and his garrisons hostage to him for the time being.

Now, even if Wales came to their senses, they had lost the conditions to negotiate with him. The young man smiled with satisfaction: "It sounds like everything is going well, so what's the problem?"

"Your Lord, let's start from the beginning, you must have expected this. But the back... You didn't expect it, not only you, but even the garrison commander has been kept in the dark. Annellin sighed, "Captain Gray, go ahead. ”

The knight captain nodded, and began to explain: "My lord, what I am going to say next is a situation that the garrison commander did not mention. ”

"This morning, when Mr. Annellin and I were interrogating them one by one again. The officers of the garrison seemed to be unable to hold on, and they confessed in addition to those crimes. They also teamed up with the merchants who managed the big casinos in Clear Water City to open an underground black market slave trade. In addition, some minions were jointly dispatched to capture young men and women from various regions to be used as slaves and organized for trafficking. According to the adjutant, over the past few years, they had captured hundreds of slaves from the villages outside the city of Bishui City alone. ”

"Not only did these brutes themselves pretend to be thieves to attack the village, but they also really drove some bands of thieves to kill, set fires, loot and plunder for them. Every time they attacked a village, they took all the young men and children there, took them elsewhere and sold them as slaves, and then killed all the useless old people before leaving. ”

"Even, this group of officers is not even satisfied with this. They also went to the upper reaches of the Bishui River with some bands of thieves to hunt down lone elves and orcs to sell as 'high-end goods' for slaves. ”

"According to the officers, all the ideas related to the slave trade on the black market were the merchant in charge of the big casino. They were only the executors, and the merchants of the big casino were just stewards and agents. The real master behind them is not actually in Blue Water City, but from the Blackstone Fortress..."

At this point, Gray Knight paused deliberately.

"Blackstone Fortress?" "Mephie had a smile on his face, and he glanced at the professional thief on the side: "I've seen the Blackstone Fortress on the map of the Empire, it should not be far from Blue Water City." ”

"Yes, my lord. It is northeast of the city of clear water, about a hundred kilometers away. "The lord there is a baron named Babu, a border baron of the Empire, who is brutal and ambitious. ”

Mayfei nodded, "Gray, go ahead." ”

"The officers also had another deal with the mastermind from the Blackstone Fortress, who had entrusted the Black Fortress with the full management of the farms and villages near the Black Fortress, as well as some of the mines, on the northeast side of the Blue Water City to the Black Fortress for the full management of the soldiers, from whom they received a hundred and fifteen gold orders a year in return. ”

"Very well, this Baron of Baron has already put one foot in the back garden of His Majesty the Emperor of Uhtred with this one hundred and five golden orders. Mayfield burst into laughter.

Captain Gray pressed one hand to the hilt of his sword, a cold light in his eyes, "My lord, it's your backyard now." ”