Cyberzaun, Machinarium

Tiana raised her head sharply and looked at the two confused people seriously. "It seems that young girls always have their own little secrets."

Chapter 177: Fellow Villagers Fleeing in Panic

The eldest daughter of the Crown Guard family, the dream lover of young knights, Miss Light of Light has run away from home and disappeared.

After discovering this fact, Tiana and Enoch looked at each other in silence for a while, and then Enoch realized that this matter had nothing to do with him.

Seeing the other party's serious expression, Enoch thought that he would need to hire some people to search for the young lady in the city, but he just thought about it briefly in his mind. This kind of obvious family matter only requires others to watch the fun from the sidelines. The Mianwei family will handle these problems in a decent manner, and there is no need for outsiders to jump up and down and cause disgust.

Since Lady Tiana did not ask for anything, Enoch was relieved. After all, the other party was a crown guard and would not encounter any danger in the capital of Demacia.

“I must be rude,” Tiana nodded to Enoch and Jinx and gave them a friendly gesture. “As you can see, I have some family matters to attend to right now, but I still look forward to your visit.”

The two of them said goodbye and watched the female leader turn around and leave. The metal boots made a crisp 'clicking' sound on the floor, and the decisive back figure made the woman look particularly strong.

"Little Spark is going to be in trouble," Jinx looked at it for a while before sighing, "How pitiful... Shall we go to the auction?"

"I don't know how you associate this, but... okay, let's go." Enoch didn't think about it too much. Since he had time, he might as well take the girl out for a walk.

The two men tidied their clothes, got on the carriage prepared by Demacia, and staggered to the auction house.

Strictly speaking, this auction house is a bit of a misnomer, because compared to the auction inside the building, the vendors in the periphery are more like the protagonists. Compared to the oil paintings and artworks auctions that the nobles love, it is better to say that this is one of the largest trading places in the kingdom of Demacia. From fruits and fodder to armor and swords, you can basically find everything you need here.

Enoch took the girl to wander around curiously on the ground floor outside. There were many goods made by the nearby Demacians themselves. The knights who claimed to be honest and keep their oaths had transformed themselves into the most shrewd businessmen. They would sensitively consider for a long time even the change of a copper coin.

There were also many knights dressed in shabby clothes waving their somewhat broken swords, swearing that their ancestors followed King Jarvan and participated in several massive crusades, using their swords to chop off the heads of several Noxian commanders or the arms of Freljord barbarians.

If the legends of the knights in this market are true, it is a miracle that Noxus has not yet been able to hold out against the attack of the Demacian army near the Immortal Bastion.

If you look for this place, you can always find something magical, such as the yellow-haired man wearing a cloak and hiding in a pile of bottles and jars.

"Long time no see, Mr. Ezreal... It seems that you haven't had a smooth time these past two days. Didn't you go on your adventure?"

The yellow-haired boy stood up immediately as if he was scalded, looked around worriedly, waved to the two of them, turned around and went to the alley on the side.

Jinx raised her head in surprise and glanced at the strange little finger. "Are we familiar with him? Is he a little... self-acquainted?"

"Maybe, let's go see what he does, just be careful"

The two held hands and watched Ezreal carefully checking the wall of the alley for a while. Then he fanned himself by the collar as if he was relieved. "This is too dangerous. You scared me. I was hiding well, but I didn't expect you to suddenly call me. Luckily she didn't find me, otherwise I would be in real trouble."

Enoch pursed his lips tightly, thought for a long time, and then kindly reminded, "I think adventure and tomb robbing are two different things. The Pilt-Zaan United Kingdom is not currently strong enough for you to rush into an isolated country and carry out cultural relics robbery activities in their capital that you call 'protection'."

"What? I didn't rob any tombs. Damn it, I didn't even get to the rumored ancient ruins. There's a troublesome guy chasing me, and I can't do anything now." Ezreal shook his head frantically and quickly rejected Enoch's guess.

Enoch was reserved. "So you owe money to others? I remember the museum applied for a large sum of funds, didn't it?"

"It's not about money, it's... I just met one near the Quicksand Falls in Shurima. How should I put it? A strange girl. She pestered me, and I found that every time she appeared, I would be unlucky."

Jinx nodded in understanding and tiptoed to Enoch's ear, "I know, it's a debt of love."

"Oh no, no, no, I just saw some sand bandits looking for trouble with her, so I carried her and ran for a while. I don't even know her name. I also put a water bag in it. There was some beautiful fabric on it." Ezreal almost jumped up. He didn't want these two to misunderstand. What if they got interested and took the initiative to help the little girl to block him? He had to go back to Piltover.

"Okay, I got my general idea. What do you need help with? Do you want me to sponsor you a boat ticket and pay you back after you get over the trouble?" Enoch rolled his eyes in his heart. Was this guy taking advantage of me? He actually despised his popularity in love affairs.

"I have to go. I still need to go outside of Mithril City. The walls of this place always make me feel uncomfortable. Don't tell them you saw me." Ezreal interrupted the conversation anxiously and stuffed the cloak to Littlefinger. "Help me get it. I'll find time to get it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ezreal jumped up and disappeared from their sight, leaving only some blue spots of light slowly falling in the air.

"That's an interesting way to leave," Enoch sighed, dragging the bored Jinx to leave the alley, "Did you see what he used to transfer?"

"No, but it should be a clever little thing. Compared to what he has, our transfer device is ridiculously stupid." The girl shrugged and stuffed a freshly bought Demacia candy into Little Finger's mouth. "What about you? What do you think he used to leave?"

"I don't know, but I kind of understand why that guy ran, and why he could never get away." Enoch looked vigilantly at the little girl floating in the air in front of him. Her orange hair looked particularly gorgeous at the ends. The girl was chewing an unknown lollipop, and bubbles occasionally appeared around her.

The girl looked around and saw the cloak in Enoch's hand. Without thinking, she hooked her finger and the cloth flew out of Enoch's hand. The girl looked at it and suddenly complained, "Oh, why did I let him run away again? But it doesn't matter. Ize always understands me."

The girl in the air gently turned in the air, looking upside down at the two of them. "Do you know where Ezreal went?"

Chapter 178 Lux's Trouble

"He disappeared. If I were a wizard, maybe I could answer you." Enoch answered the girl's question carefully. Ever since the girl started floating and circling in the air, the prosthetic eye automatically switched to alert state. The warning bar of high-energy reaction flashed glaringly. The detected arcane energy directly exceeded the calculation level. Only a few question marks were displayed on the interface of the prosthetic eye.

This harmless-looking girl with heterochromatic eyes could easily overthrow the entire Demacia. Enoch was curious about how the adventurous Mr. Ezreal could attract such a person. It seemed that the charm of the good guy was even greater than expected.

"He always avoids me, so annoying. Will I eat him?" Zoe floated in the air and looked carefully at the two people in front of her. "Have we met somewhere before?"

"I remember now, you were the one from the Demacia port that day? Where are you from? Bubble" Jinx bit her fingertips and thought for a while, then suddenly realized that it seemed that it was the person with this hair color who suddenly rushed past Enoch that day, causing her little finger to be stared at by a group of people.

"I'm not Bubbles, I'm Zoe." The girl's eyes flashed with strange colors, as if she was looking at something far away. Soon her attention returned to the girl in front of her. "I have a name, so don't call me Bubbles, you naughty little cat."

"Oh, but I don't know your name."

"Hate, hate, I'm not going to pay any attention to you. Just stay with that stupid iron frame." Zoe turned twice in the air, jumped into the black portal that had just been opened and disappeared. The few remaining ropes that flickered like starlight rolled up the Demacia candy in Jinx's arms and followed the girl into the gradually shrinking portal.

"She's so rude," Jinx muttered, removing the broken and ineffective Hextech shield from her wrist and throwing it into the garbage pile at the side. "She was asking for directions, how could she not even say please?"

Enoch glanced at the girl subtly. It seemed that she had never said anything like a request. The Zoe just now was very similar to the girl next to him in some ways.

"I don't like her either, so don't mention them. Do you want to go buy some desserts or something?" Little Finger pulled the dissatisfied Jinx and quickly left the alley. It was better to stay out of such troublesome matters.

Smelling the sound of freshly baked buttered bread in the air, Jinx sniffed and turned over her previous dissatisfaction. "This shop looks good. Let's go for a bit. I heard from Little Spark that the cakes in this shop are good."

"As you wish..." Enoch put his arm around the girl's shoulders, "Give me more, and take it as a gift. Let's go visit your good friend."

…………

The guards of the Crown Guards were used to letting Enoch and Jinx pass with their bags. Not only were they the sponsors of the prince's guards, they also had a close relationship with the eldest lady. They had already become very familiar with each other after several interactions, so there was no need to stop them.

The gifts prepared by Jinx and the snacks prepared for afternoon tea all went into Lux's stomach. After the runaway girl was caught, she was directly confined by her aunt. Running around all day made the girl hungry for a long time.

"You can go slower. Littlefinger and I won't snatch it from you." Jinx frowned and pushed the tea in front of Lux.

The eldest daughter of the Mianwei family took the tea and gulped it down. While swallowing the bread in her mouth, she patted her chest to prevent herself from choking. "Thank you... Oh my God, this really scared me. I just got home and my aunt locked me in the bedroom. I can't go anywhere."

"Where did you go?" Jinx was curious. "Your aunt was so scared when she ran to us. You should have told us in advance. I couldn't help you."

Lux hesitated for a moment, then tightly grasped Jinx's hands. Her determined gaze made Little Naughty a little uncomfortable. "I went to the Demon Hunter prison these two days, and I saw how Demacia tortured these poor people... I originally just wanted to find a solution, but I failed. There is a person secretly imprisoned in the Illuminati, and he doesn't believe me."

"If someone comes up to me and asks me to help betray Littlefinger, my first reaction is to kill that bad guy," Jinx said meaningfully. "Listen to me, you have to be careful about the 'helpers' you find. According to my experience, unless you can prove that they are in the same group, don't believe what they say."

Jinx was very confident. There were many bad things like this in Zaun. Littlefinger never paid much attention to this aspect of things. She always helped him solve them. "Also, don't trust others easily. The basis of the transaction is that everyone can make money, so it doesn't prevent you from thinking that the other party is more 'greedy'."

Lux nodded. "I know. I secretly told the prisoner that I am also a mage and I need him to help me control my energy... He said that as long as I can get him some information, he can teach me how to control energy."

"Is there something wrong with your brain? Why are you so confused about this?" Jinx's eyes widened and her tone was particularly sharp. She never thought that this girl would be so naive. Damn it, she is the only daughter in a powerful general's family. Didn't anyone teach her what to say and when to learn to shut up?

"You say you are a mage in a place that specializes in arresting mages?" Jinx waved her hands exaggeratedly. "You are the craziest person I know. Even if I want to provoke those high-ranking officials in Piltover, I will not stand in a police station and throw bombs!!"

"I was very careful. It was the prisoner who first figured out that I was a mage, so I told him the truth." Lux retorted dissatisfiedly. She was not stupid, and she could only do this in that situation. "The prisoner did not report me to the witcher guard. I consulted him for a long time before he agreed to my request."

"What's his reward? Do you want you to fish him out?" Jinx twirled the fork in her hand. According to her living environment, there were no good people in the world except Littlefinger.

"No, he knew he couldn't escape. He just wanted some books on magic research from the Illuminati. He was born with it like me, so if he wanted to teach me, he had to understand the theory first..."

Jinx raises an eyebrow. “So he doesn’t want anything? He’s such a good guy, too good to be locked up.”

"Maybe you don't want to believe it, but I have to tell you that generally speaking, things given away for free are often very expensive. You'd better find out his price first."

Chapter 179 Littlefinger's Theory of Happiness

While Jinx was privately giving advice to the grounded Lady of the Crown Guard, Enoch was drinking tea with Garen, who was on vacation, in the lobby.

God knows why Garen, the leader of the team, is so idle, while Tiana, the manager of the Fearless Vanguard, is nowhere to be seen all day long. Maybe this is the legendary saying that those who are more capable will do more work?

Enoch suppressed his scattered thoughts, picked up the teacup in front of him and shook it. "To put it simply, this is what happened. My girl and I were wandering around the market when we ran into a little girl... at least something that looked like a little girl. The energy she carried exceeded my detector. I thought I should explain it to you in advance so that you can be mentally prepared in advance and don't let things get out of hand."

Garen frowned, his already serious face looked even more bitter. "Have you informed the demon hunters? What preparations have they made?"

"No. I didn't tell anyone." Enoch shook his head and held up two fingers to Garen. "To put it simply, there are two reasons. First, I don't want to cause trouble for myself. Second,..." Enoch looked at the man opposite him seriously. "Since there is no reaction from the other side, it's best for us not to do anything to stimulate her."

"You want me to turn a blind eye? I am the guardian of the kingdom. You want me to ignore something that may cause harm to the people?" Garen stood up angrily. "I will go to the Legion now. Please give me a detailed portrait. I will take care of it."

"Before you take action, do you need to talk to Lady Tiana?" Enoch felt a little annoyed when he looked at the upright knight. If he didn't have to stay here for a while, he didn't want to talk about anything related to the Twilight Aspect, let alone hunt her down. If he had known this, he would not have said it.

"The people of Demacia are in possible danger, that's what you said, but now you are trying to stop me?" Garen has all the good qualities of a knight, including dedication and sacrifice, but unfortunately he seems to lack risk assessment.

Enoch raised his teacup and took a sip. He had to hold back his rolling eyes. "The people of Demacia are always in danger. Whether it's dangerous magic or the surrounding Noxus, even the demon hunters can easily bankrupt an ordinary farmer and take the last copper coin from his corpse."

"They can't escape. This is the norm in this world. You can't decide whether tomorrow will bring luck or disaster!"

The hands in the iron gloves squeezed together, making a creaking sound. "At least we can let the people know what might happen and have a way to prepare."

"What preparations?" He interrupted Garen's reflection without any politeness. "I have only seen that level of energy once in Zaun, during the One-Day War. And according to historical rumors, that kind of energy is the patron saint of Zaun..."

"If you said you were going to find some super weapon that could kill a god in one go, I definitely wouldn't stop you. But since you chose to mobilize soldiers... I'll tell you straight away that ordinary people are of no use in front of her, and it might even make things worse. Since there's a high probability that nothing will happen right now, it's best to take action first."

Garen seemed to have thought of something, and silently leaned back in his chair. "I once swore to protect Demacia, but now I feel more and more that I can't protect anything."

"You've protected him well. I think the Demacians are very supportive of the king."

"But they are in danger, and I..."

"They are safe now." Enoch was already regretting telling Garen about this. Who knows what he was thinking now? The knight was obviously worried that there was a bigger problem. And he looked like he was almost out of breath.

"From sunrise to sunset, as long as they are not harmed, a farmer is safe. He can work and live in peace, focusing on small issues like bread and wheat seeds, instead of spending time on the fear of being powerless. They just need to know that someone is protecting them and no one is harmed. They don't need to know too much."

"Is this how you treat Pilt Zaun?" Garen stroked his arm armor. He was a warrior and a general, and Enoch was a regional manager. From this aspect alone, Garen had reason to listen to the experience and advice from other fields, listen, absorb, and transform it into his own abilities. He has always done so.

"Of course. Otherwise, how could a city that had been in conflict for nearly half a century be stable? We conditionally filter some information and hand it over to the people of the Twin Cities so that they can live and invent normally. We call this news control. It is a necessary and efficient administrative measure, and it is no different from keeping secrets when you go to the front line to fight."

"This is the most bizarre dictatorial declaration I have ever heard of." Garen smacked his lips. "Even the King of Noxus wouldn't want you to do this."

This is really interesting. When it comes to dictatorship, who can compare with Demacia? At least Noxus has some signs of a parliamentary system, while Demacia is a thoroughgoing feudal dynasty. Listen to the name of the king, Jarvan III, the swordsman who defends the crown and the close friend of Jarvan IV. How can he accuse Enoch of being a dictator?

Considering that Enoch was now extending into Demacia, he used a lot of effort to suppress the desire to complain and turned to the previous topic “I just don’t want them to worry about unnecessary things;

You see, we don't need to tell the general public that under the eternal ice of the Freljord in the north, there is a big eyeball staring at the watchtower above, waiting to break free from its imprisonment. I also don't need to tell them that the void under Ecathia south of Shurima is stirring, waiting to burst out of the surface and devour everything in the world at any time. They just want to live a good life, and there is no need to scare them with the curse that is spreading on the Shadow Isles."

Enoch rarely got serious. "For ordinary people, knowing so much information will have no effect on them except the pain of helplessness. But for those who have ambitions, all this information is in a place where they can be retrieved. All they need to do is choose their goal."

"Where did you hear all this? What if what you said suddenly happened? Are they just going to die without knowing anything?" Garen couldn't imagine it. After all, according to the legend of Demacia, their ancestors escaped the Rune War and rested in this place. The twin goddesses have been taking care of them. Demacia, which pursues an isolationist policy, has never paid attention to these problems.

Enoch waved his hand and changed the subject. "At least they have a period of peace and quiet. If they are lucky, they will never encounter these bad things in their lives."

"You see, secrets are weighty. Knowing things that others don't understand will constantly weigh on a person." Enoch looked at Galen, but his words were meaningful. "To keep other people's secrets is to make yourself walk hand in hand with pain. I guess you have experience in this area."

Looking at the surprised Galen, Enoch patted his shoulder armor in a good mood and said, "Everything that is hidden or obscure has its price. A secret is an invisible coin that is enough to wear the head of a prince and still have a lot of money."

“I like this quote so much that I’m giving it to you for free today.”

Garen silently sighed helplessly about his sister's troubles, and turned to ask Enoch, "How do you keep these secrets? Aren't you worried about some conspiracy theories?"

"Me? Never." Enoch laughed. "I'm a businessman, not a politician. Messages that follow rumors are meaningless to me. I don't need to go to great lengths to maintain a perfect image. Only a little flaw can be considered real."

“I thought you were going to control the speech.”

"I'm not that boring." Enoch waved his hand. "Sixty percent of the population in Zaun are my employees. I just need to ensure that they can support their families with nine hours of work every day. If they can create something incredible, I only need to be responsible for the purchase. I always follow the rules. I think I am a pretty good person."

It can be seen that Garen has some objections to this. He rested his hands in front of him and remained silent, as if he had received a shock. However, this is normal. He is a full-time knight. After he became an adult, he was responsible for the military affairs, and his family was supported by his Aunt Tiana.

Enoch couldn't help but say, "Don't look at me like that. Compared to my collaborators, I have been very humane. I could have made them bear a lifetime debt through a carefully designed contract, and the responsibilities stipulated in the contract could have been transferred to their descendants, but I didn't do that. This shows that I am a good person with a conscience."

After hearing Enoch's sophistry, Galen looked at the merchant carefully for a while, as if he saw the true face of the merchant for the first time. "But you control their daily lives. All their choices are provided within your framework. What's the difference between them and slaves?"

"Ah, in this regard, they are very different." Enoch poured the already cold tea into his mouth, and then tapped the table lightly, "The difference is... slaves are the private property of the master. The owner has to spend energy to give them rest and treatment to ensure the slaves' health, so as to ensure continuous output, and the contract..."

Enoch thought of the common practices of the merchants in the United Kingdom of Pilt and Zaun, and sneered, "Doesn't the contract include protection for the 'personal life issues' of the covenantors? If one person is hurt and can't continue to perform the contract? Then let's find someone else to take over."

"After all, politically they are citizens, they have complete autonomy, and they can protect their own freedom. This is very important, right? After all, it is well known that a master can legitimately decide the life and death of a slave. And a citizen cannot arbitrarily deprive another citizen of his life and property."

"Can't you decide whether a person lives or dies now?"

Enoch shrugged. "If you must ask, my answer must be that I cannot decide the life of a citizen."

Chapter 180 Military Contractors' Contracts

For the upright and brave knight, these crooked things obviously troubled him, but fortunately he had experienced enough things to be able to control his expression and not neglect his guests.

But that was all. Enoch did not attend the dinner, but left the Crownguard castle early with Jinx and returned to his own manor. Garen, who was holding back a lot, could only seek help from his aunt at night. He could only try his best to convey the message without mixing in personal feelings.

"You can choose to forget these words and pretend that you have never heard them." Tiana crossed her legs and listened to the retelling with interest, slowly shaking the wine glass in her hand. "He is a businessman, he believes in money, and you are a noble, what you need more is the loyalty of your subordinates."

"We are facing different situations, so of course our choices will be different. But regarding the secret... you can think about it carefully. That little guy is right. There is no need to tell everyone everything." Madam Tiana drank a sip of red wine elegantly. "It is enough to let those who need to know know."

"You may not like him, but there is no need to oppose him. Jarvan likes the Royal Guards that he sponsored very much. He even asked about it in the meeting a few days ago."

"Is it still a problem on Noxus' side? It's obvious that those people were driven here to die." Garen never thought that Prince Jarvan would stay in any place other than the front line, and he replied subconsciously.

"No, His Royal Highness the Prince was attacked. He is now recuperating in Lunwall. He was rescued by a girl I have never met." Tiana shook her head. The prince was seriously injured at the border. If he had not been lucky enough to survive, the situation in the country might have worsened again.