No.12 night

The weather in Crete in August is extremely dry, but when we went downstairs, it was rarely raining outside.This place is the highest point in the entire Knossos. I looked down through the hole in the wall, and there were few people around the foot of the mountain. The late guests happened to hit the rain and flew towards our location. Ben. "Need a raincoat?" I asked Minos.

Without looking back, he walked straight into the rain, and soon his body was soaked.

I suddenly felt very boring.Now I have nowhere to go for the time being. If I want to catch up with Minos and let him misunderstand that I am worried about him getting rained, I would rather stay in the tower and wait for the rain to stop.

Fortunately, people are unlikely to run out on the terrace tonight. I was distraught by the series of events that happened in the past few days, and my forehead gradually pressed against the stone wall in a daze.When I opened my eyes again, the clouds in the distance were just blooming, and the rainwater on the floor tiles had evaporated.I just curled up in the stairwell and slept all night.

Minos had long since disappeared. I patted the mud on my body, then walked to the exit of the terrace and opened the door. In front of me was a group of people I didn't recognize at all, blocking my way in darkness.

"Balendine." The leader introduced himself like this.He had silver hair similar to Minos', only cut shorter and stretched back like a flame.I mistakenly thought he was also a relative of Minos.

"Your judge left last night without a word, so unfortunately I don't know where he is."

He frowned, apparently dissatisfied with the answer.I had to explain again: "You know, Minos is like this, what can you expect him to say to others?"

"I didn't ask you to talk about this." He interrupted me. "Did Lord Rada quarrel with Judge Minos yesterday because of you?"

For a moment I thought I had heard it wrong, but Balendain and the others stared at me in unison, their eyes full of doubt.

"I don't think I have the ability to intervene in the conflict between their brothers." I said coldly, "Besides, if they quarrel in private, I'm afraid they won't let others know, after all, it's not something to honor the family. "

Someone below couldn't help shouting: "If it wasn't because you were going to enter the core of the Magic Mountain, Lord Radha wouldn't have rushed here overnight. Do you know? We have never seen him in such a hurry. After learning that you Already on the island—"

Only then did I realize that these people are all subordinates of Radamandis.It's easier that way, just blame Minos, and they won't even bat an eye for it.

"Then I'm even more sorry. It was originally used to hold convicted prisoners. Who called me a prisoner of Minos?"

"You don't belong here—this place." Balendain narrowed his eyes, "As long as you are still here, Lord Radha will not be at ease."

I made a helpless gesture: "Then you have to ask Minos what nerve is wrong, why he picked me, I want to ask him to give me a crime and tell me what I did wrong, that's okay. Let me sleep peacefully at night."

The other party was choked by my question, and after a while he asked, "You mean——you don't know what crime you committed?"

I nodded.

"It's too messy, it's too messy..." He put his hands behind his back and spun around several times, "How can a judge bring a prisoner to the Magic Mountain without a conviction? What will the public think if they find out? ?Lord Radha—his future will be affected—"

"I'm not a prisoner, Mr. Ballendine. I've been asking him questions from the very beginning, but I haven't gotten a clear answer so far. I don't think I have violated the law." I defended myself.Ballendine's reaction was beyond my expectation, and I felt hopeful that he could help me out of the predicament.

"I need you, you, especially Mr. Rada to bring justice to me." I deliberately held Radamandis to a very high position, "I must be acquitted, if the public can understand Rada It is even better if Mr. Radamandis works behind the scenes - so that even if Minos is punished, Mr. Radamandis will get a good evaluation, and people will believe him more because of his impartiality." I was afraid that he would go back on his word, so after thinking about it, I added: "This is the only feasible way to preserve Mr. Rada's reputation."

But Ballendine won't take my set. "Don't fool us for being fools." He turned his back and looked at me sideways, "There is a fundamental difference between not being convicted and not guilty for the time being, why should I believe that you didn't make up a set of excuses to exonerate yourself, If I rashly intervene in your case while you are lying, it will inevitably affect Lord Radha in the end."

"You are different from me. I was forced to cut off all contact with the outside world, but you can collect evidence through your own intelligence network."

This sentence is undoubtedly a reassuring medicine.Ballenda would not be ignorant of the treatment of prisoners under Minos, and a person who lost his connection to the repository of consciousness would not be able to fake synchronously anyway.

He bit his lower lip and stared into my eyes: "Cutting off the connection...is not a perfect guarantee. Just over 20 years ago, a desperado sneaked into the ranks of sorority guests, and in front of thousands of people Assassinated a judge from another district."

My heart skipped a beat.What Balendain said was obviously the assassination incident initiated by Aspros, but the timing conflicted with Kaludia's description, and it also did not match my speculation.I'm not sure if the assassination that I first heard from Biack was the same thing, if so, then there are four versions of this thing at once, which is really weird.

But right now this is not the most important thing. I need to get a guarantee from Ballendine to conclude a disguised alliance with him, the sooner the better. "As you can see, I can only sit here and wait to die. For Mr. Rada's sake, please use the judicial system to find out the truth behind it, prove my innocence, and let Judge Minos let me go. Who can I count on now but Monsieur Radha?"

Ballendine said again that he would not listen to compliments, but he was willing to keep a few people on the island to help me collect evidence.

I calmly suppressed the ecstasy in my heart: "I swear in the name of Korollos that I will bear all the consequences caused by this matter. If there is evidence that I should be convicted, I am willing to accept the court's decision again..."

Korolos is another name for the repository of spiritual consciousness. Once you say it, there is no turning back. I feel a little uneasy, but at the moment I don't care.Ballendine made me see the light, and I gritted my teeth secretly, I must make good use of this opportunity to clear my innocence; as for how to punish Minos, compared with returning to freedom, it is not so urgent.

"As you said, I don't belong here, so I have enough ground to find out which link went wrong; I will give you an explanation, so that Mr. Rada will not be questioned, and I will return all the public rights in the world. Righteousness leads to fame. I will not be afraid of this, because I am an outsider in your world."

I'm not sure if the last sentence caught his ears, but it was enough to do so.

***

I rushed to a reception room, where Minos was lying, his cheeks rosy, like flame grass in the snow.

"You have a fever." I glanced at his robes that had faded below his shoulders, "It doesn't feel good to be in the rain."

He moved his mouth and buried his head deeper.Obviously, he went to sleep last night without changing his wet clothes. The water vapor repeatedly evaporated around the skin, and the high temperature caused fever.

"Just leave it to Luni to take the medicine. I'm here to ask you a few questions."

Minos raised his eyelids lazily: "I don't remember who I had an appointment with."

"You know what's going on—" I almost walked up to him like Lada and pinched his collar, "Damn Minos, you deliberately led me to the core, right? Is there any rule? The rule is that ordinary people cannot dismantle the documents of the database privately, so I can get a crime from you logically..."

He grinned, looking smug: "That's what you deserve—I warned you not to run around."

I was stunned for a moment. "So you admit it?"

He simply sat up, maintaining the gesture of clasping his hands.I followed the trend: "Then——Abofika, why do you push this person to me again and again, what kind of existence is he, that allows you to take pains to instill his deeds in others—"

"Ah, does that have anything to do with you?" His tone was as irritating as ever, a bastard with no appearance.

"He never really existed, that's a contradiction, Judge. You want him to be someone who actually lived in this land, and you're tempted to embody that image along your lines, without scruples put me in danger. If you don't care what I think, why go to such lengths to give me the notion of him?"

His eyelashes fluttered slightly, as if he was moved.About this time, I suddenly changed my mind.

"Take me to the Royal Rose Garden, I want to know everything about Rugnes." I told him clearly.

He seemed to have heard the funniest thing in the world, and laughed wildly: "Have you forgotten where you are, my prisoner?"

"Radamandis--and his men, whom I entrust to help with my case. It is my brother's business, and the men outrun the hounds, and they may be out of Crete by now, rummaging in the courthouse The files are out." I simply had a showdown with him, "How about it, Judge Minos, they don't think your actions represent justice."

He looked at me, his violet eyes were alluring and dangerous: "I don't take threats."

"I don't dare to threaten you," I finally smiled, "As you can see, I may have broken a taboo in the core, and reporting you rashly will not do me any good."

"So—?" he asked me, drawn out.

"Rada has left spies by your side, and only I can talk to them directly. But I can stabilize these people and cover you before Rada gets into trouble, provided that you discuss the countermeasures with me."

"You mean—you want to work with me?"

"Only temporarily." I replied, "I can continue to pretend to be your prisoner on the island, and generally follow your arrangements; you guarantee my freedom to inquire about information and provide help when necessary."

He snorted: "Strange thing."

"Don't you want to know why there are several theories about Sai Qi's assassination? I admit that I am an overly curious person, and I can't resist the people around me repeatedly asking me puzzles; all the above agreements are only valid here. But you and I don’t have to guarantee what will happen when we leave Crete.”

Don't ask right or wrong, just look at gains and losses, he raised his eyebrows, a little interested in this proposal, but still added: "This is what makes you different from him - he never lets what he thinks be accommodated. The so-called interests."

I froze for a moment, and then realized that he was talking about Jabofika. "Don't compare him with me." I reminded him coldly.

What needs to be solved immediately is the assassination mystery of many years ago. Minos is vague about this, and I don't expect him to be able to explain it clearly.I asked for a private visit to an insider in the Athens area, and he agreed.

Soon I set my first target—the Athenian justice Sisyphus.

***

The guests will not stop in Crete during the day, and all I hope is that Sisyphus will be here before nightfall.Fortunately, I bumped into Kaludia first, and he enthusiastically showed me the way, telling me that Sisyphus would go for a walk by the garden alone tonight, and asked me to wait there half an hour earlier in case something happened. lose.

But when I went there, someone was talking there, and I don't know who asked Sisyphus before me.

It's really inappropriate to interrupt the other person's conversation hastily, I hid behind the corridor and waited for a while; at this moment, one of them suddenly took a few steps forward, and the light in the distance shone on his face, and my heart suddenly tightened.That was Deftolos who made trouble at the rally last time.

He had already changed into a lake-blue blouse, and his demeanor was no longer as unruly as before, as if he had become another person.At first I thought he had seized something to blackmail Sisyphus, but it didn't take long before I heard him say: "For many years, I know that you will come here whenever something is on your mind...Judge Sage... ...was he okay before he left?"

Deftolos' words were full of weariness. Although his voice was so low that I couldn't hear some words clearly, I could still feel his infinite guilt for Sisyphus.

"He never blamed you." Sisyphus seldom showed such a soft side in front of others, "We all know that, and Judge Baili also knows...you will always be the pride of Athens."

Deftolos, whose usual size was comparable to that of Radamandes, was at a loss, and these words made him even more difficult to control; he crouched down and collapsed into a low heap. "Very good." He leaned against Sisyphus's leg, "This is very good."

"But the others—" Sisyphus sighed, a little sadness flashed between his brows and eyes, "they will understand you."

"I don't care." Deftolos smiled wryly, "I would rather not have an understanding that only belongs to me."

Sisyphus seemed to have communicated with him a long time ago, no matter how obscure the other party's words were, he could respond immediately: "I believe that time will not disappoint its people. Besides, I guarantee in my name—"

Deftelos raised his eyes: "Sisyphus, legend has it that he kidnapped the king of death, and at last was punished by the gods, and every day he rolled the boulder up the mountain, and repeated his labor eternally and uselessly,--it is not suitable for a good metaphor, But it’s surprisingly appropriate for you.”

"Compared to this, I prefer to use the Benu bird as a symbol of my work." Sisyphus replied without haste.

My thoughts drifted to the distance, that is the immortal bird in Egyptian mythology, born from the heart of Osiris, perched on the sacred pillar of Benben Stone, and can be reborn every time it burns.

Deftolos was really relieved, he stopped shrinking, stood up and sat next to Sisyphus. "Sorry, I still can't learn how to defend myself..."

"I understand you, I understand you." Sisyphus patted Dever lightly on the shoulder, "You are just angry at me for taking over as a judge so readily. But Athens needs someone to take care of you, we can't bother Bai Li any more— "

"Sisyphus..." he whispered, with half of his face hidden in the shadows, "we've always been friends, haven't we?"

"Yes, of course—always." Sisyphus took one of Dever's palms, and he smiled, "Thank you brother for me."

In this way, Deftolos' last hostility was also dissolved in the gentle smile of the other party. He closed his eyes, as if he had been redeemed, and indulged in peaceful joy.

I can't figure out the abnormal behavior of Deftolos at this moment. No matter what I see next, the scene in front of me is enough to refresh my understanding.Also confusing to me was Deftolos' subsequent actions.He cast his gaze toward the sky, and for a long time said nothing; then he turned to Sisyphus, his expression grave.

"The storm is coming."

After saying this, Deftolos got up and waved goodbye to the justice.Sisyphus watched him leave step by step until he disappeared into the darkness beyond the woods.

"Excuse me, Judge Sisyphus, I am a client of the court of Minos." I waited for Deftolos to leave completely, then appeared from behind the corridor, and walked towards Sisyphus.

"It's like this—I want to ask you some questions about the courts of Athens."

Sisyphus didn't speak, he suddenly twitched, struggled a few times, and fell to the ground.