"Who are you?"

"Vijaek"

"Vishsek?"

"No, Jack"

I've been asked the same question many times, over and over again, and many times I've almost blurted out the truth, but I still reluctantly swallowed the truth back, a listless officer and a grim-faced priest kept asking me questions, and they would carefully record every syllable I said

I don't remember how many times they asked me about my name, I didn't hesitate at first to follow Giovanni's instructions, saying that my name is Jack, this secret seems simple to protect, but before long, this secret is like a bird about to fly, fluttering up and down my chest, I don't pay attention to it, this bird will fly out of my mouth, I feel that the reason why I haven't been exposed for so long is because the other information I provide is true, which gives me a cushion

A lie may be perfunctory under frequent questioning, but a string of lies is not, and the truth and falsehood must be mixed together to be able to get by

"Where are you from?"

"Wikiman"

"Where's Vikia? Is it Riverlands? ”

"No," I replied to him, "in the west."

"Ivangorod? Or Kazan? ”

"Ivangorod, close to the snowy mountains" I didn't tell them, it was the side close to the snowy mountains, I didn't have a very clear idea of home in my heart, just vaguely regarded Romanovburg as my home, and that place was by far the most home-like place

"Who is the man with you?"

"My lord, Lord Tom"

"Family name?"

"Ugh"

"Just say it," the priest furrowed his lips and urged me, the priest was a Burke, with a slight accent in Vikia, but speaking in a very standard way, "Son, tell me everything you know God brought you and your lord here safely, and whether you tell the truth or not determines whether you and your lord can leave safely"

"Yes, sir"

"Family name?"

"Valentin"

This is what Giovanni told me that in ancient times, the Zenda people called the Valans Valentin, and no one knew this word anymore, and it was not a lie to call the Lucasino family, because the Lucasino family was indeed a Valentin

"There is no such family," said the officer with drooping eyelids, "and there is not a family called Variankin, from Ivangelod to the Interriver, from Creel to the North Sea."

"Because you don't know," I said to him

"Where is your family? Who is it for? ”

"In the valley of the Ryazan River, at the service of the city of Xiaodonghu"

"What is a family business?"

"Mercenaries, Amber, Salted Fish, and Ruby"

"The Ryazan River does not produce rubies" once again put forward his opinion

"Produced" I insisted

The priest smiled strangely, writing something down with a quill, and then he stood up, "Child, it's a pity that you didn't tell the truth, at least, you tried to mislead us and we'll talk back later"

I was locked up in a small room with a commode and a kettle, and when they closed the iron door, I fell into complete darkness, and after a while I could see a little light through the crack in the door

After my eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, I could barely take a look at the environment by the light of the crack in the door, except for what I saw at first, there was only a bed made of wheat straw, I lay down, a mouse squeaked from my back, ran through my body, a cold all over my body, jumped up, the mouse escaped from the hole, I groped for a long time, to make sure that there were no rats, and then lay down again

Little by little, time passed

I heard the guards coming every once in a while, and the light that came through the crack in my doorway wandered, and I couldn't be sure if there was still light, or if it was just something I had imagined, and there was not much difference between my eyes open and closed, and I had lost time between waking up and sleeping, and I didn't know if it was day or night, or what was going on with Giovanni

I thought carefully about every word Giovanni said, the name and identity he told me

Is he going to deceive the Burkes? So he shouldn't have brought me here, or was he going to negotiate with the Burkes? So why doesn't he use his true identity? If he was going to investigate the deployment of the Burkes? Damn it, he's just throwing himself into a trap when he comes running like this

I ate three meals, the first two were sour wheat cakes with a small piece of salted fish, and the last one had a little bit of broth, and I walked around the room, trying to fall asleep, but my head hurt so badly that I couldn't sleep at all, and I couldn't even tell if I was still dreaming, and the darkness was driving people crazy, and I seemed to be able to see dreams with my eyes open

I started kicking the door and walking around in a grumpy way

There was a muffled voice outside, but everything was calm

I was ecstatic when the key opened, but then the strong light almost blinded my eyes, and I covered my eyes with my hands, but one of them grabbed my arm and slapped me, and now that I was conscious, the man dragged me out

I went back to the small room I had started with, and this time only the priest was there

When he saw me coming, he began to ask me as if he had just been separated from me

"Your name?"

"Jack," I said, dejected

"Take it out" the priest waved his hand and immediately ended the conversation, "Kid, you're not telling the truth"

Two soldiers grabbed me and dragged me out

I've only been out for a few minutes, and I'm going back to that place again, my eyes are red and watery, and my vision is blurry, but I feel that everything looks so good, and I want to look at it more, but these people pull me back along the way out

Soon I was thrown into the darkness again

I started to get cold, I was disgusted and scared by everything here, and I didn't know how long I was going to stay here

A few hours later, the pastor who brought me food came again, and he asked my name outside, but I didn't answer for a long time

What exactly should I answer?

I resent Giovanni, what the hell did he bring me to this place? What should I say now? If only I could talk to Giovanni, is Giovanni also being interrogated like this? Did he already say everything before me, so the pastor would keep saying I was lying? Once again, I wanted to say my name

Victor! Victor, my name is Victor! Get out of the way, don't bother me, I cried out in my heart

But I still sighed, "Jack"

The window for food delivery was suddenly closed

Every once in a while, people from outside would bring food, wash the commode, and ask my name, and soon after, I would say Jack and the priest would close the window

I don't know how many times he came, but when he finally asked me, I simply didn't answer, I was afraid that if I didn't pay attention to it, I would be miserable for Giovanni

All the questions only met me with silence, and soon my supply of food and water was cut off, and the priest told me the last time he saw me, "Tell me, son, tell me something else, or the emperor will be here with you."

If the torture of darkness is to slowly drive people crazy, the torture of the stomach is to directly drive people crazy

I started to think of the sour wheat cakes, then the broth with little water, and finally, the rats

The thought sent chills down my shoulders

My mouth became moist, my teeth were itchy, full of chewing **, the colic in my stomach came suddenly, and then slowly flattened I felt colder and colder, and bit the straw into my mouth several times, chewing slowly, but instead of making my stomach feel better, it made my stomach more uncomfortable

"Who are you?"

"Jack"

"Who are you?"

"Jack"

"Who are you?"

“”

The inquiry started again and again, and then stopped quickly, and my confidence became less and less

Finally, there was a time, "Are you Jack?" ”

I was already dizzy with hunger, and I finally gave up

"It's not"

There was silence outside, but I could feel the triumphant joy of the people outside, like a birdcatcher who had finally tamed a falcon

The rattle of the chains This time, I was ready, so I pulled off my clothes, and after a few moments I was blindfolded, someone pulled me out

This time, it was the officer who received me

The officer still looked like he didn't care about himself, but he looked incredibly amiable

In front of him, I saw a crystal clear butter bread, a bowl of soup, and a few frozen pears wrapped in paper, and my stomach growled

He waved his hand and asked me to sit down

The officer looked at me, presumably hearing the sound of my stomach, and said to me, "This is a Creelian bread, stuffed with meat floss and raisins, and baked slowly in the oven, made of fine wood, fresh flour, and Salande grapes, bread that even Lord Lech doesn't eat every day, and I heard that you might be a little hungry, so I bought one for you."

I reached over to grab the loaf of bread, but the officer politely stopped me before I could do it

I thought of Giovanni, and countless voices told me that the loaf of bread might well have made Giovanni lose his head, but I couldn't control my hand

"Are you willing to tell the truth?"

I looked at him and didn't speak

The officer smiled, "Don't worry, your lord is very good, you will be able to see him soon I can tell you, child, you have done a good job, maybe some" The officer frowned, his expression was a little strange, as if he was searching for the right word in his head, "It's not worth it, it's not worth it" The officer smiled, "Maybe sometimes the things you are desperately trying to maintain are simply a hoax designed by others?" ”

"I don't know," I said, staring at the loaf of bread

"Your name" officer got down to business

"Victor"

The officer looked at me deeply and threw the bread to me

I snatched it and bit it into my mouth

"Your name," the officer asked quietly, again

I trembled with hunger, and tears came down my eyes

I swallowed as I exclaimed, "Victor! Victor Victor".