"Your Highness, your face doesn't look very good."
Returning to the study, Candelon stood up, his huge body supporting the low bookcase, making the already not spacious private study appear even narrower.
"It's okay, you continue." Xavier took a deep breath, Naples's unpredictable smile still echoed in his mind, and the old butler did not answer him, but gave him an ambiguous answer.
Exiling a duke's son to an extremely northern town requires that the Council, representing the royal family, and the Inquisition, representing the Holy Church, discuss a plan at the same time.
The banishment of Xavier was probably the rare moment when they all agreed on the idea that "the further away the better, it would be better not to come back for the rest of your life, and it would be better if you died".
The successive heads of the Qiangwei family have left too many bone-piercing marks in their lives, and the various legends of Qiangwei and the prestige of this ancient family have become a threat that cannot be ignored.
The person in the Cross Council who has some relationship with the Rose family is probably Chief Nidhogg of [Beluga], who also serves as a minister with seconding power. The second is Master Albert, who also owns the Royal Alchemy Guild.
There are two identities: the president and the councilor with decision-making power.
The second one was tricked by Xavier when he was drunk, but Xavier did it very secretly, and the next day he was still innocent and pretended not to know anything.
The Cross Council of the "Silver Cross" must wear a uniform silver mask when entering, and at the same time must hide their identity. They are the highest body in the country to decide major issues, so they are also called "Silver Faced Lords".
Although the Holy Church is more complicated, there are only a few archbishops who can make the decision. It is finally submitted to the Greiting Fortress. The Greiting Fortress has no decision-making power, but it can provide review opinions.
However, the "Black Stone Iron Mask" in Gray Court Fortress actually has a high degree of overlap with the "Silver Face Lord", or 60% of the "Silver Face Lord" has a place in Gray Court. In this way, more people are walking
After a rigorous process, the matter decided by the Council is finalized.
In this way, even if Naples remains silent, Xavier himself can find a breakthrough to investigate. Although it is impossible to start with the "Silver Lord", he can eliminate them one by one from the list of suspects.
"Your Highness, shall we continue?" Candelon glanced tentatively at Xavier, who was meditating. He could no longer hold himself back.
"Well, okay, I just think there might be a big shot behind Duke Leatherman." Xavier came to his senses and nodded.
"Yes, His Highness's feeling is very correct." Candelon nodded in surprise, "After arriving at those edge towns, we began to collect intelligence. In addition to frequent contact with the retired soldier these days, Leatherman also
I once had a closed communication for nearly an hour with a businessman who was heading to the Holy Capital."
"After our investigation, we found that the merchant was a spice merchant who specialized in selling royal spices. Why did Leatherman come into contact with a royal spice merchant? Perhaps, he relied on this person to contact people in the royal family.
" Candelon expressed his speculation.
Underneath the rough appearance, there is a thoughtful heart. Xavier's evaluation of Candelon in his heart has been greatly improved.
"Unfortunately, when we were going to investigate the nobleman from the royal family, the spice merchant committed suicide on the way. The trafficker who sold us the information before also disappeared completely. In other words, our investigation of Hanover has been discovered.
." Speaking of this, Candelon's eyes revealed a hint of depth.
He shook his head and sighed: "I still don't know where I made the mistake. We all used pseudonyms and pretended to be wanderers. We even only explored the towns on the edge of Linglan, but even so
, we are still exposed. Could it be that the head of the Hanover family, who is under house arrest deep in the castle, can already stretch his hands so long?"
Hearing this, Xavier also frowned. Candelon was a guard from Canopy City. Listening to his retelling, this operation was extremely careful, but even so, it was still noticed by the other party.
Xavier put his hand on his chin and suddenly said: "The identity of that officer, or what is that officer doing with Leatherman?"
Candelon and Arthur exchanged a look, and the former coughed and said seriously:
"Black trade is almost everywhere in Linglan, including slave trading, underground casinos, sale of obsolete or second-hand military supplies, import of banned potions, wholesale of high-risk weapons, and skin and meat business."
"...Huh?" Xavier's mouth twitched.
"Because he has connections with the Templar Army, the City Defense Army and the Templar Army will deliberately bypass his place. Moreover, he will often win over high-ranking officials. It is said that there are almost as many people as Dan in the largest underground casino in Linglan.
Maplebolo is treated like royalty.
And now that he has the secret support of Ling Lan, the Duke of Hanover, he has more confidence and has become more arrogant, but also more cautious."
"The businessman we met in the Xuansti slum..." Xavier nodded, and he turned to look at Arthur.
"Your Highness, it's probably the difference between krill and bone whale." Arthur gave a vivid metaphor, which is a metaphor in the dialect of the Norse people. During these days in the far north, Arthur has obviously integrated into it well.
"So, the deal between Leatherman and him was to give the other party a [legal] protective umbrella and then gain the other party's support?" The huge shadow in Linglan's dark night still shocked Xavier.
"There should be a partial share. This can explain that although Leatherman's treasury is restricted by the elders, he still has a mysterious fund to support it."
"Then is it possible to think that Linglan today is like a huge tree that is lush in the sky, but its roots have rotted and even been eaten by various insects?" Xavier closed his eyes and pondered for a moment and asked.
"No, Your Highness, it's just the opposite. The black trade chain controlled by that officer and the white trade chain controlled by the Hanover family have made Linglan the glorious country it is today. It's like a bard said, even if it exists, it is reasonable.
Without this officer, Linglan's black trade chain would not disappear, and would even become more dirty and chaotic. He ruled Linglan's shadow city and also managed it in an orderly manner. The girl from Xiacheng District
Many of them will eventually sell their bodies, and besides being gangsters, most of the boys in the lower city can only become low-level workers.
Maybe, that officer was the one who really saved them. Doesn’t your Highness think it’s ridiculous? But that’s the fact, those dark casinos are full of sin but also full of hope.”
Having said so much, Candelon's eyes were full of complexity. He was born into a guard family in Canopy City, which is equivalent to the knight family in Sentinoa. They are both respected by nobles and worshiped by common people.
After the destruction of the Canopy City, he wandered around and finally wandered to Nori, the northernmost peninsula of Sentinoa, where he stopped.
In those days, many things subverted the heart that once yearned for justice. The so-called darkness and light have always complemented each other. In this gray world, there is never anything black and white.
More than ten years later, when he looked back again, looking into Xavier's confused eyes, Candelon seemed to see his former self.