The City of Marronligar

When we discuss Marenliga (especially the economy and security), we often draw a clear line between "urban" and "suburban", while the positioning of fishing villages seems very ambiguous.

The village is very close to the pier, and most of the daily catch will be sent directly to the fish market in the harbor area, but the relationship between the villagers who make a living from fishing and drying salt seems to end there.Their income is uncertain and their lives are poor, and they are probably at the same level as the poorest people in the city.Since there is no decent property in the family, there may not be any loss even if the door is not closed at night.

Therefore, compared with the fishing villages that can't squeeze out any oil and water, the tax collectors in Marenlica prefer to wander around the farms on the outskirts of the city, and the city guards often ignore this area.

——Miscellaneous Notes of the Silver Bay Tower: The Security Situation of Malunliga

Cross the southern city wall with a side door left in Marunliga, and walk along the coastline towards the coastal cliff. In the southwest of the old church on the edge of the village, there is an abandoned barn at the bottom of the hillside about two or three miles away from the nearest house. .

After the owner moved from the manor to the city, the barn has been empty for more than ten years. The empty wooden frames are full of cobwebs, and the strong wind passes through the broken wooden windows, making a strange howl.Even curious children seldom come here to play—although it is mostly because of the threats of the elders, making them mistakenly think that this is the lair of the Lightless.

In recent days, this eerie barn has become a temporary residence for a group of people while the villagers are busy working and have no time to take care of trivial matters that have nothing to do with them.Simple bedding was lined up on the hastily swept ground, and there were several wooden boxes containing food and two barrels of rare local spirits piled up in the corner.

Chu De knew that the Kullmans liked to drink in big bowls and eat meat in big mouthfuls, so he also spent a little time trying to win over these ferocious beasts.

They are not picky about what they eat, and they will not complain as long as the portion is sufficient. They are also curious about the sweet taste of the locals, but the mild and weak Silver Bay mead will definitely not enter their mouths.

These Kurmans were originally sent by northern buyers to escort grain and grass.Because the whole body is incompatible with Ma Lunlijia, it is inconvenient for them to move here, so Governor Morgis and Chu De arranged them to other nearby cities. The Germans entered the port and boarded the ship.

Plans can't keep up with changes.First, there was the cold wave caused by the catastrophe, and then the governor was killed. The secret transaction hidden under the card table between Maren Liga and the participating countries in the north was at risk of running aground.

In order to eliminate hidden dangers as soon as possible and overcome the dangerous shoal, Chu De arranged a one-time "side job" for these militants.It's just that the ambush on the pier was not so smooth, and six of the fifteen Kurmans brought in were folded.

A Kurman soldier was chewing on the scorched mutton, and complained to Chu De in a blunt foreign language: "None of the three people you deceived died."

They were naturally worried about the death of their companions, but they didn't seem to care very much - they had long been used to witnessing death, and it was a day-to-day life on the northern front line, and it was a pleasure to be sent to the south to escort supplies with the ship.However, in the eyes of the Kurmans, the days of not being able to fight happily are probably worse than death.

Chu De did not intend to gain a deep understanding of the mental journey of the Kurmans.He keeps his hands on everyone, and always pays attention to keeping a distance, let alone having a heart-to-heart with the accomplices he "borrowed" temporarily.

Simple minded, impulsive, a pack of talking weapons—this is what Trud really thinks of the Kullmans.Rather than call them brothers and mingle with them, Chu De would rather flatter the nobles who looked down on him.

At this moment, the "weapons" are sitting on a pile of mats, eating and drinking with meat and wine glasses.Fortunately, the old barn was some distance away from other houses in the fishing village, and their noise did not attract the attention of the villagers.

One of the Kurmans continued to talk to Chu De: "I still don't understand what you want to do. Anyway, the goods will be ready soon, and we can go back to make business soon, right?"

Among this group of grassland warriors who lived by killing, he had the longest seniority and could be regarded as the leader of this small team. He had been discussing important matters with Chu De for the past few days.

Chu De leaned against the wall, deliberately standing at the farthest place from the Kullmans who indulged in drinking and eating: "Yes, I will arrange everything, and I will let you go back with food and grass within a month. It's just that you can't go home in Marenliga. To stay, you have to leave from another port. The carriages and horses have parked where you came, remember to leave before dawn to avoid being discovered."

Although his tone didn't fluctuate and his expression remained motionless, Chu De's heart was almost jumping with joy.

In front of him, Louis burned the old evidence against him, and exposed a fatal weakness to himself.Although he failed to directly kill Louis, Chu De still felt that he had made a lot of money.

Thinking of this, he almost laughed out loud.But an excellent bounty hunter has always been moody, let alone the current president of the association, Chu De can certainly control his emotions as he likes, as if there is a mask under the mask, this body There is another person in it.

He took out a bag of money from his pocket and handed it to the leader of the Kurmans.

The latter raised his head suspiciously: "Didn't you give it?"

"This is a little extra hard work."

The leader shrugged his shoulders, feeling that the person in front of him was very boring.If it weren't for Chu De's generous remuneration, they, a group of Kurmans, would not have worked for the liaison officer of Governor Ma Lunliga.

But since he was doing things for others and got a lot of benefits from Chu De, and now it was a rare occasion where he could drink to his heart's content, even Chu De, who was very rich in the city, looked very pleasing to the eye.

So, he forced a glass of strong wine into Chu De's hand, and at the same time grabbed Chu De's arm, still with the straightforward appearance, trying to draw the mysterious customer to drink with him: "You brought it, don't drink it!" ?"

The leader's voice was loud, and the group of Kullmans immediately turned their heads, and several pairs of eyes stared at Chu De, with different expressions on the fierce face that could be recognized at a glance.

Chu De frowned quickly, raised his hand and drank it down, then handed back the empty glass to the leader who persuaded him to drink, and calmly removed the other party's hand on his arm: "I'm done drinking. I still need to deal with the aftermath, please continue."

If these Kurmans suddenly became enlightened and wanted Chu De to prove that there was no poison in the wine, then their goal had been achieved.Even if he really wanted to kill people, Chu De didn't plan to attack this group of foreign mercenaries, otherwise the wartime material business negotiated with the north would be ruined.

When Chu De walked out of the barn, two shadows who had been waiting for a long time greeted him immediately. They were the "messengers" he sent to the Flying Lion Mansion and the military camp to lure people into the bait.Both of them had their bags on their backs, saying that they were afraid that the guards would search the house overnight if they knew their faces, so they simply left Marunliga early.

The three of them didn't light a torch, and walked along the remote path to the avenue in the wilderness south of the fishing village under the thin moonlight.

Before walking out of the border of the fishing village, the two "messengers" looked at each other, and said with a smile on their faces: "Master Chu De, thank you for looking up to our two brothers, allowing us to do such an important thing, and paying back the money on the way, really I am very grateful. But when I think about it carefully, we have not settled in Marenlica for less than half a year, and now we have to settle down in other places. It is not easy to travel all the way, you see..."

Although he had already paid, Chu De didn't mind paying the hush money again.He stopped and took out a few more gold coins from his wallet: "I won't treat you brothers badly."

The gold coin lies quietly in the hand, and its heavy weight is enough to make people excited, and it may also encourage greed that makes people take risks.

The elder brother of the brothers put the gold coins away, rolled his eyes, and grinned further: "I just don't know if we can go fast enough. If the guards catch up, ahem... To be honest, I'm afraid I can't even get half a set of punishments." I couldn't bear it, and before the jailer picked up the whip, everyone who knew what he didn't knew would be recruited."

He carefully observed Chu De's face, but the night was too dark, and he could barely see the outline.

——Want to coerce me?If you don't give enough benefits, go to inform the general?

Chu De immediately became murderous, but his face was still calm and calm, and he couldn't see the slightest clue.

He smiled slightly at the speaker, and patted the two of them on the shoulder: "You can rest assured. The treatment is the same as those of the Kullmans. I have prepared horses for you, and put some money in the saddlebags. It’s been half a year for you to eat and drink. It’s rare to get to know each other once, so I’ll give you another one.”

Chu De's tone was extremely sincere, and even had a kind of gentleness and kindness that did not match his nature, as if the long sword and dagger hanging on his waist were just harmless decorations.

Without waiting for daybreak, he will make the two brothers disappear from the world with secrets.

Compared with the young and strong Adrian, General Lucien was much more seriously injured.When Adrian came to visit on behalf of the Feishi Mansion with precious condolences, he was still lying on the bed with most of his head hidden under the bandage, so that he couldn't speak smoothly.

The room was filled with a strong smell of medicine, the sergeant standing aside was worried, but the general himself was very open.Without waiting for Adrian to speak, he first asked him if he was in good health and how the casualties in the Flying Lion Mansion were.

It was not the Torresso family who launched the attack, and he was one of the victims, but Adrian still apologized politely to General Lucien.He feels guilty for the general's injuries, even though they were not his fault.

Although he was suffering from burns and arrow wounds at the age of nearly half a century, Lucien still showed admirable open-mindedness and integrity.There was no need for the other party to prove his innocence, and the general himself did not attribute the incident to Adrian and the Flying Lion Mansion, which made Adrian respect him even more.

Lucien said: "My men have already found the owners of those light sailing boats. According to the owners, those empty boats have been repaired at the pier for nearly a month, and have nothing to do with the Governor's Mansion or the Flying Lion Mansion. He has never been in contact with suspicious people, so he seems to have no knowledge of this matter."

——As for the loss of the ship being burned, I don't know who to claim for.

Adrian also expressed his position sincerely: "Although our ability is limited, we are willing to investigate the truth with you."

Apart from the corpses of the Kurmans on the fireboat and the plank road, the "messenger" who came to find them respectively became the most important clue.Adrian said that he had already hired a painter to paint the image of the messenger based on his own memory, and the general happened to take the same action.

"I just greeted the bosses of the shops under me, and asked them to remember these two faces, so as to get some information from the guests, and pay more attention to whether there are Kullmans staying in the city. Once the whereabouts of these two people are found , they'll let me know. Hope this helps you," Adrian said.

Lucien nodded approvingly, thinking that it would be a great thing if such a rigorous and reliable young man could work for him.

For a long time, due to the fact that city defense and commerce do not interfere with each other, the relationship between the garrison and the Flying Lion Mansion is very shallow, and Lucien and the Torresso family have no personal relationship.At this critical moment, the temporary agent of the Feishi Mansion did not rush to get rid of himself, but took the initiative to stand with the acting governor who was troubled by disasters. Lucien was really moved.

However, in his current state, it is hard to say whether he can continue to be the "acting governor".

Lucien let out a sigh that resembled a wry smile, and said helplessly: "Although the soldiers are still investigating these two cases, I can no longer take care of the affairs of the Governor's Palace. , let them discuss it. The efficiency will definitely be much lower, and I probably can’t talk about business matters, but there is no other way.”

His words just inspired Adrian—could this be the purpose of the murderer's attack on General Lucien?

This inference made Adrian shudder.He thought further: Then why did the attackers involve the Feishi Mansion? Was it just to frame the Torresso family?

The method of the attack is not difficult to understand: General Lucien has been staying in the heavily guarded barracks, and he can only find a reason to lure him to the corner of the harbor area overnight.It was outside the guard's range of activities, and it was dark at night, and the long and narrow plank road was easily cut off.

However, if assassinating the general is considered a bold act, attacking Adrian is a bit redundant.

Adrian thought of the Kullmans again.The Marenlica Republic has nothing to do with the nomadic tribes in the far north. It is hard for him to imagine who these people are employed by, and whether the mastermind is lurking in this city.In the worst case scenario, the people who planned it all might be regulars at town hall meetings.

"...Master Cormac told me that the only Kulemans he saw on board were these."

Although most of Lucien's eyebrows were burned off, just looking at the movement of his facial muscles under the bandage is enough to detect the change in his expression: "Louis Cormac? Oh, speaking of this excellent bounty hunter, I have to thank you And him. He saved me and my guards, and ran into the fire without a word, which was a shock."

Hearing the description about Louis from General Lucien, Adrian couldn't help but smile.

Lucien said again: "I am unable to move now, so I can only entrust my subordinates to send a thank you gift to Master Cormac, and I will come to thank you at another time, but he doesn't seem to be at home."

"He told me before leaving," Adrian held his wrist unconsciously—a small gesture he would make when he felt uneasy about a certain issue. "It is said that I received the entrustment temporarily, and I will be back in a few days."

Lucien felt a little sorry, but didn't say much.

Adrian thought for a while, and was about to inquire about something else, and his words were quite tentative: "These days, have you found anything wrong with the Governor's Mansion, or is there someone... who wants to take advantage of the chaos during the catastrophe period? Making profits? To use an inappropriate analogy, just like six or seven years ago, slave ships were secretly driven into the port despite the ban to seek ill-gotten gains."

What he said was very cryptic, but Lucien still noticed some hidden meaning.

If the news of the Governor's Mansion hollowing out Marenliga and conducting material transactions with the North is spread, it will inevitably cause greater chaos and unrest among the people, and this is not the result Lucien wants to see.

Therefore, even though the Flying Lion Mansion can be regarded as an ally, Lucien's answer is still reserved: "No, there is no clue yet."

The author has something to say: Bittersweet-InonZur

If Chu De didn't leave, but stayed and drank with Kullman's tool man, there is a chance that it will become a Begonia next door (I'm talking nonsense)